SchoolBound
by xXRikaWitchOfMiraclesXx
Summary: AU Ninten, Ness, Lucas, and all their friends know each other. School's on its way, and with the arrival of two new students, everyone's anxious. What happens when Pokey tries to use them for something evil? ClausxOC LucasxNana DustxKuma COMPLETE
1. Last Day

Note: Before I start this, it's Alternate Universe and Ness, Ninten, Lucas, and co. all know each other. Also, I've never played any of the games, but I know the story. So please don't hurt me if anything's wrong. OC use.

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Mother, a _certain someone's_ death wouldn't be so traumatic.

…

"Wake up, Luke!" Claus said, throwing a pillow at his twin.

"Ow! Claus," Lucas whined.

"Come on, it's the last day before school! Let's spend as much of it as we can," the older twin said, putting his blue shoes on.

"But Claus, can't we do that later?"

"Come on, Lucas! I want to go see Ness and the others!"

"Well, I do want to go see them…"

"Then let's go, sleepyhead!" Claus raced outside, not bothering to see if Lucas even got out of bed.

He couldn't wait to go see everyone. Even though they were all going to the same school, Claus wanted to see them. Seeing how all the kids went to the school, no students ever transferred from or to the school. Two siblings moved to Tazmily, recently, and everyone was nervous to see what they looked like.

"Hey! Ness! Ninten!" Claus called when he saw them.

"Oh, hey, Claus! Lucas still asleep?" Ness said when Claus reached the large group.

"Yeah, I tried waking him up, but I don't know if he's coming or not."

"Hi, Claus!" Ana and Paula said.

"Hey, Ana, Paula." Claus also greeted Jeff, Loid, and Poo.

"Where are Kumatora, Duster, and Teddy?" Claus asked.

"Well, since they're in high school, they wanted to hang out with some of their other friends," Jeff said.

"Typical," Poo said.

"Hey, there's Lucas," Ninten said, pointing to Lucas' figure. Lucas was casually walking towards the group.

"Lucas! What took you?" Ness asked.

"Yeah, Luke, didn't I tell you to hurry up?" Claus asked.

"Sorry, I was… never mind." Lucas said, looking away.

"You were doing what?" Ana asked.

"Yeah, Lucas, tell us," Loid said.

"I can't. It's embarrassing," Lucas said, looking down.

"It can't be that bad," Poo said. Lucas shook his head, as if saying no.

"Ugh, if you won't tell them, I'll tell them," Claus said, getting annoyed. Lucas perked up at that.

"No, Claus," Lucas shouted.

"Everyone, Lucas was-"

"Don't say it Claus!"

"Fixing his hair!"

"No!"

Ninten and Ness burst out laughing, while Lucas looked like he were about to cry.

"Aw, c'mon, Lucas, there's nothing to be embarrassed about," Paula said, reassuringly.

"Yeah, right," Ninten said, wiping a tear away from his eye. Lucas groaned.

"Come on, Luke, we're just teasing," Claus said.

"Hey, guys, what do you think the new kids will be like?" Jeff asked.

"Maybe they'll be some new girls! I really don't like being the only other girl besides Ana," Paula said.

"You wish! Maybe they'll be some cool new guys who can join us on adventures!" Ness said. Everyone stared at him.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Ness, but that was lame," Loid said, putting his hand on Ness's shoulder. Everyone laughed now.

"Ok, ok, maybe it'll just be two normal kids," Lucas said, trying to repress his laughter.

"Aw, but that'd be boring," Ana said.

"What if they have PSI? It'd be great to have more PSI users," Ninten said.

"You're just saying that because you don't have any offensive PSI," Claus said. Ninten groaned.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I don't know. Maybe like Lucas said; maybe they'll just be two normal kids."

"You know, if at least one of them is a girl, you bet she'll fall for me," Poo said.

"What? You're conceited," Paula said.

The rest of the day, the kids talked about the places they visited and who had the roughest adventure. No one ever really decided, though. After a while, they decided to eat.

"I want Prime Ribs," Ninten said.

"No way, Jose! How about Steak?" Ness asked. Lucas and Claus stared at each other, smiling widely.

"Omelets!" The two shouted.

"Why don't we just get burgers?" Jeff asked.

…

"Great idea, Jeff," Claus said. They decided to simply get hamburgers after all.

"Yeah, but who's paying?" Ness asked.

"Let's split the bill," Lucas said. Everyone agreed to that, and after paying for the meal, they left the restaurant.

"Hey, guys," a voice said. Everyone turned their direction towards the voice and groaned angrily. Pokey Minch. He was Ness's neighbor, and he was the bully at our school. He mostly picked on Ness and co, though.

"What do you want, Porky?" Ness asked, using his nickname.

"I just wanted to tell you that I found out who the new kids are!" Pokey said, sneering.

"And?" Ninten asked.

"Well, I just wanted to say they might interest you."

"Who are they, then?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not telling you!"

"Then why'd you bother us, anyway?" Claus asked, angrily.

"I needed enough time to distract you while they walked right past you."

Everyone gasped and looked around, but they didn't see anyone they didn't recognize.

"See you tomorrow," Pokey said, laughing and walking away. Claus groaned.

"Forget about him," Ness said.

"Hey, do you guys want to go to my house to play video games?" Ninten said, trying to change the subject.

And it worked.

…

"So what games do you have?" Lucas asked.

"Well, not too many. I have Super Smash Bros, though," Ninten said.

"Which one?" Ness asked.

"All three of them."

"So, which one do you want to play?" Loid asked.

Almost everyone was there, except for Ana, Paula, and Poo. They had to get home.

"How about we just play Mario Kart?" Jeff suggested.

They played for a few hours, but then the rest of the kids had to get home.

"Bye, guys!" Ninten said, waving to them as they left.

"Bye Ninten!" They all responded.

…

"So, how was your day, boys?" Hinawa asked as Lucas and Claus got home.

"It was wonderful," Lucas said.

"I can't believe we have school tomorrow," Claus murmured to himself.

"The day went by so fast," Lucas said.

"Well, it was a good day."

…

And that's the end of the first chapter. I guess it's not too much AU… This is a sort of prologue. And sorry for the bad name. I couldn't think of any.


	2. Beginning of the First Day

Yay, I got reviews! Special thanks to: blackroseofdeath, EmTheSmasher, and GirlofNintendo

…

"Lucas! Claus! Wake up, it's time for school," Hinawa said loudly. Claus groaned. Lucas, although wanting to stay in bed, knew it was time to get up.

"What do you know? Our roles were switched," Lucas said, staring at his twin.

"I'm getting up! I just really wish we didn't have to waste all of our time at school," Claus said, getting out of bed.

"Hey, today we'll see the new kids," Lucas said, excited.

"Yup." Claus and Lucas went downstairs for breakfast (Omelets!) and then left for school.

"Have fun," their father, Flint said.

"Ok, Dad. Bye, mom, bye, dad!" The twins said. They walked over towards their special meeting spot with all of the other kids of Tazmily. Fuel, Nichol, Richie, and Angie were there.

"Hi, guys," Lucas said.

"Hello, Lucas, Claus," Angie and Nichol said.

"Hey, Lucas! Hi Claus," Fuel said.

"Hi, Lucas." Richie said. She glared at Claus and said his name bitterly as a greeting. Claus responded the same way before greeting everyone else normally.

The Tazmily children started walking towards the school. The exact location wasn't specific, just that it was in the middle of Eagleland. To get there, there was a school bus like ship that took people from Tazmily to Eagleland or Podunk. After being dropped off, the children walked towards the school. It wasn't a long walk, only about fifteen minutes.

"Hey, Claus," Fuel said.

"Yeah?" Claus responded.

"So, when are you and Richie gonna get together, huh?"

"W-WHAT?"

Everyone stared at Claus.

"What's up, Claus?" Richie asked.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-nothing," Claus stuttered out.

"Oh. Ok." Richie said before turning around and walking.

Claus glared at Fuel before walking away.

…

"Lucas! Claus!" Ness said happily when he saw the twins arrive with the other children from Tazmily.

"Hi, um, what was it? Oh, yeah, Ness!" Fuel said.

"Hi, Fuel."

"Where're Ninten and the others?" Claus asked.

"They went to find the new kids."

"Oh, I wonder what they look like," Angie said to herself.

"Let's go see if we can find them," Nichol said to Richie, who nodded her head. The two of them ran off to search for the new kids.

"I want to see them too," Angie said. She grabbed Fuel's hand and dragged him with her, while Fuel was blushing furiously. This left Lucas, Claus, and Ness alone.

"I doubt they'll find 'em," Ness said.

"So, are you excited for school?" Lucas asked.

"More like bored, already."

"Well, at least we're all together."

"Hey, there's Ninten and Loid," Claus said pointing to them. The three walked up to them.

"So, any luck?" Ness asked.

"Yeah, Paula and Ana just told us where they are," Ninten said.

"I feel bad, they're getting too much attention," Loid said.

"Who cares right now? Let's go," Claus said.

…

"Look! There they are," Ninten said, pointing to them. They were twins; a girl and a boy, both with dark, messy hair similar to Ninten's and wearing glasses.

"Claus, they're twins," Lucas said excitedly.

"Nerdy twins," Claus said, staring at the girl who was reading.

"Just because they're wearing glasses doesn't make them nerds," Jeff said defensively.

"Well, yeah, but they're also reading." Before the argument could go on any longer, Poo spoke up.

"I don't know about you guys, but I've got to make a girl fall in love with me."

Paula whispered "Conceited" under her breath. Poo walked up the girl, who was slightly stunned that someone had come up to her.

"Hi. My name's Poo. I'm sure that you've heard of me; Coolest and hottest guy in the school, no?" Poo said, stretching his hand out. The girl took her glasses off and stared at him for a few seconds before saying

"You're blocking my reading light."

Poo seemed to be stunned that she wasn't attracted to him. Defeated, he walked back to the others.

"Ha!" Ninten said. Claus grumpily pulled a dollar out of his pocket and gave it to Ninten.

"What's that about?" Poo asked.

"Nothing," Claus said. Poo eyed him suspiciously, but eventually dropped it.

"Hmph, told you you're not all that," Paula said. Poo groaned.

"Well, I'm going to go introduce myself to them," Ana said. She walked over to them.

"Hi, my name's Ana. I'm sorry about my friend over there. He's a bit of an airhead," Ana said sweetly.

"Oh, you're friends with him?" the boy asked quietly.

"Well, kind of."

"Tell him to stay away from my sister," the boy said sternly. The girl growled and stared at him.

"Risc, I don't need you protecting me," the girl said.

"Chris, I just don't want a bunch of guys flirting with you," Risc, the boy, said. Chris growled and turned away. Ana, not wanting to get in the middle, walked away from the siblings.

"Yikes," Ness said.

"Whatever. Let's just get to class," Claus said, still mad about losing the bet.

…

"Hey, Ness," Pokey said. The first class had ended and Ness was on his way to his next one.

"What do you want, Porky?"

"I saw your friend Poo trying to make a move on the new girl. Man, that was pathetic," Pokey said, laughing.

"As much as I hate to say it, I have to agree with you there," Ness said, smiling.

"Hey, Ness?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you figured out what makes those two special yet?"

"Huh?" Ness asked, confused.

"You haven't, huh?"

"What are you talking about, Pokey?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Pokey said, laughing and walking away. The bell rang and Ness was still in the middle of the hall.

"Great…" Ness muttered as he walked to class.


	3. End of First Day

Lucas saw that Chris had his class. Her brother, Risk, was in Claus's class. A bit of a coincidence if you asked Lucas. He also saw that Nana was the first to talk to Chris. Chris was also actually listening to what Nana said, which was strange because anyone who'd listen to Nana would end up looking very bored. But Chris looked like she was truly interested.

"Wow, Nana, that's amazing," Chris said. Nana nodded her head and giggled.

"Thank you! You're the first person to actually pay attention to what I say," Nana said.

"Well, I don't know why anyone wouldn't. All of this is so interesting."

Someone nearby said that Chris was crazy for talking to Nana. Lucas frowned.

"Hey, Nana? I was wondering… can… can we hang out together?" Chris asked hesitantly.

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah, I want to hang out with you… is it too much to ask?"

Nana looked on the verge of tears.

"You… you're not messing with me, right?"

"No, of course not."

Nana's face looked as if she were going to explode from sheer happiness. Lucas smiled. Nana was a tall girl that wore her blonde hair in a ponytail and a red band that covered part of her forehead, a pink polo shirt and a pink skirt (A/N: Sorry, I can't imagine it as a dress) Lucas thought she looked pretty.

"Hey, Lucas," someone said behind Lucas. Lucas jumped a bit and stared at who said his name.

"Oh, hi, Tony." Tony was Jeff's best friend from Snow Wood Boarding School. At least that was the case before the boarding school burned down.

"So, Lucas… Why are you staring at the weirdo?" Tony asked. He was annoying like hat, asking stupid questions over and over.

"Why are you asking?" Lucas retorted. He really didn't like Tony, especially when Tony would ask questions about Jeff, deeply scarring Lucas and giving him… visual images.

"Because, if there was any girl _you_ would like, it'd be the weirdo."

"Stop calling Nana that!"

The argument had gotten the attention of a few of the other students.

"Why? Did I offend your girlfriend?" Tony started laughing obnoxiously. Lucas growled.

"At least I'm not _GAY_!"

The room went silent with that.

"Wha… what'd you say, Lucas?" Tony asked quietly.

"I said at least _I'm_ not _gay_," Lucas repeated, his voice rising with each word. Tony looked upset. He got out of his seat and left without a word.

"Wow…"

"Did you see that?"

"He stood up for her…"

The children seemed to be muttering something about Lucas's remark. Lucas groaned and put his head on his desk. Knowing the school, this would spread like a wildfire.

…

"Yeah, he said that about Tony," a girl said to her friend. Lucas was right, by lunch, everyone knew what happened.

"Come on, Jeff, don't feel too bad," Ness said. If everyone now thought Tony was gay, there was only one person who Tony would like.

"Bt now they're going to be calling me gay," Jeff whined.

"Jeff, if you were a real friend, you'd probably be comforting Tony. Oh… no, wait, then everyone would say the rumors were true," Ana said, saying the second half to herself. Instead of helping Jeff, it made him feel worse. Lucas felt bad. He didn't say a single word in fear that he would upset Jeff.

"Lucas, why don't we get some more juice, huh?" Claus asked, trying to get his twin away from the conversation. When they were away from the group, Claus stared at his twin.

"Lucas, it's not your fault."

"Yes it is, Claus! Now Jeff and Tony hate me," Lucas said.

"They don't hate you…"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, for starters, Jeff didn't yell at you as soon as you sat down."

"Well, yeah, I guess, but Tony probably does."

"Then we'll deal with him later. Ok, Lucas. What happened that made you say that to Tony?"

"I… well…"

Lucas hesitated. He couldn't possibly tell Claus he liked Nana, but Claus would keep pestering about it.

"Ok, I'll tell you," Lucas said. "I noticed that Nana was talking to Chris and Tony asked if I liked her. Oh, if I liked Nana. Then he started calling Nana a weirdo so I told him to stop. He didn't so…" Lucas's voice trailed off. He expected laughter from his older twin.

"Lucas… trust me, I wouldn't laugh at something like this. So what if you like Nana? If you like her, I like her," Claus said, reading Lucas's mind. Lucas was shocked at the reaction.

"Really, Claus?"

"Yes. That's what brothers are for."

Lucas smiled to his twin.

"Thank you."

"You don't have to, Luke. Let's go sit back down, now." Claus said, putting his arm around his younger twin's shoulder and going back to their table.

…

"Hey, Kumatora, can I ask you something?" Duster asked. They were in their lunch break. Duster was in his final grade while Kumatora was in eleventh.

"Yes, Duster?" the pink haired girl asked.

"Well… I feel kind of bad for leaving Lucas and his friends."

"Well, the little squirt needed a break from us, don't ya think? I mean, we had a whole adventure with the kid not too long ago," Kumatora said.

"Yeah… ok." With that, the two ended the conversation.

"Hey, Kumatora," a voice said. The two young adults turned their heads to see Teddy running over to them. Teddy was in the same grade as Kumatora.

"Whaddaya want, Teddy?" the girl retorted.

"I have a question."

"I'm not going out with you, Teddy!"

"Why not?"

"I'd rather go out with Duster!"

"Hey," Duster protested.

Kumatora would never admit it, but she actually did like Duster. And Duster liked her.

"Please, Kumatora?"

"No!"

"Then go out with Duster to prove it!"

"Wha… what?" Duster yelled. Kumatora growled and left, hiding her blush.

…

Sorry for the delay. School starts tomorrow. What joy…


	4. Questions

"Lucas?" someone asked.

"Hm?" Lucas turned around and faced the new student.

"Um… you know how my sister is friends with… Nana, right?" Risk asked the blonde boy.

"Yeah, why?"

"Uh… Nana and Chris wanted to thank you for sticking up for Nana yesterday. They have another class right now, so Chris asked me if I could pass the message."

"Oh. Uh…" Lucas scratched the back of his head.

"Tell Nana that she doesn't need to thank me and that I'm willing to do it, especially if it's one of my friends," Lucas said after a while.

"Oh, ok. Thank you, Lucas."

The two stayed silent for a bit before Risk spoke up.

"So… you have a twin, right?"

"Um, yeah. His name's Claus. He has orange hair, though."

"Oh, ok, because I heard someone say something about 'Lucas and Claus' and I was wondering if Claus was you're brother. C-Can you tell him to be careful later today?"

"Um… yeah, sure. Why?"

"No reason. I just have this feeling that something's going to happen later today involving him."

"Oh."

After some awkward silence, Risk left to go to his desk and pulled out a notebook.

…

"Hey, Claus," someone said. It was currently nutrition break.

"Yeah, Jeff?" Claus asked.

"You need to help me! Do you know how many people asked me if I like guys?"

"What?"

Jeff looked very upset, making Claus feel a bit guilty.

"Come… come on, Jeff, we can fix it!" Claus said, putting his hand on Jeff's shoulder, but he heard laughter from some students near him.

"Ok, who's laughing and why?" Claus asked angrily.

"Ha, I thought it was just Jeff and Tony, but it looks like Claus is gay too!" a student said.

"Damn it, Danny! Shut the hell up. Just because I put my hand on his shoulder doesn't mean I'm gay," Claus said, growling.

"You shouldn't swear that much. It makes you seem so immature," one of Danny's friends said.

"Don't say anything, Alex. He might think we're gay and try to get with us," Danny said.

"You two are complete idiots!" Claus yelled.

"Look, he talks without swearing," Alex, Danny's friend said. Claus growled and did his best not to use his PSI.

"Wow, only two days of school, and already we have three homos!" Another one of Danny's friends said.

'_Don't use it, don't use it_,' Claus thought, but he was still tempted.

"Say one more word about me and my friends and I'll kill you," Claus threatened.

"Aw, like how his stupid crybaby brother defended the creep, he's defending his gay lovers!" Danny teased.

"SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT ME AND MY BROTHER!" Claus yelled to them. He tackled Danny and started punching him.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" some students yelled when they saw what was going on. Danny's friends were trying to get Claus off of Danny, but Jeff decided to help and pulled out his Multi-Bottle Rocket Launcher to get them away from Claus.

"What are you gonna do with _that_?" One of them teased.

…

"C-Claus?" Lucas asked worryingly. The principal had come after she heard the explosion from the Multi Bottle Rocket.

"Lucas?" Claus asked back. He was in the principal's office.

"Mom's coming, Claus, and she's not happy." Claus sighed. Getting Hinawa angry was very hard.

"Claus, I know now's not the time, but the new guy to warn you that something might happen."

"Wh-what?"

"I dunno. He said that, and it got me thinking. I was talking to Ness yesterday and he said that Pokey said something was special about the other twins. I was thinking… what if they have PSI?"

"Lucas, PSI users can't see into the future. At least I don't think they can…"

"Well, I'm going to ask his sister if anything weird has been happening to them."

After Lucas said that, Hinawa and Flint came in. Lucas took this as a cue to leave. Claus wanted him to stay, but Lucas still had class.

"So, we spoke to the principal, Claus. She said you got in a fight with another student. Is that true?" Hinawa asked calmly. Claus sighed and looked away.

"Yes," he muttered.

"Principal said the kid, Danny, has a broken jaw. You pulled quite a number on him, son," Flint said.

"Flint," Hinawa said sternly. Flint stared at her for some time until Hinawa faced Claus.

"So why'd you do this, Claus?" Hinawa asked, her tone harsh.

"They were making fun of me, Lucas, and our friends." Claus said quietly.

"So you attacked that boy?" Hinawa asked angrily. Claus felt a lot worse.

"I had to do something," Claus almost yelled.

"Lucas accidently said that Jeff and his friend were… gay… and the kids kept messing with him. Then they started saying that I was, too!"

"And why did Lucas say that?" Flint asked.

"Well… they were messing with his friend, Nana, and Lucas just blurted it out without thinking, really. He didn't mean to cause all of this."

The three remained silent for about a minute until Hinawa sighed and stood p.

"Claus, honey, please stop getting into fights. Just tell the principal all of this and maybe she can handle it."

"But then the kids will say that I'm a stupid tattletale, mom!"

"I really wish I could help, Claus, but it looks like you and your brother will have to fix it on your own. I'm really sorry, honey."

…

"Ninten, what are you eating?" Ana asked. Ninten stuffed something in his mouth before Ana could see what it was.

"Just an Oreo. Want one?" Ninten said, pulling out the box from his backpack. Ana took one and atared at the backpack.

"Isn't that Ness' backpack?" she asked.

"No!"

"Ninten!"

"It's not, I swear! It just looks like his."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Paula!"

"What're you doing?"

Paula walked into the room.

"Hi, Ana, Ninten. What is it?" Paula asked.

"Is this Ness' backpack?" Ana asked, grabbing the backpack from Ninten.

"It looks kinda like it."

"Ana, I told you, it's not! Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

"Hey, has anyone seen my backpack? It disappeared earlier," Ness asked everyone telepathically.

"Ninten!" Ana shrieked.

"What? I needed something to hold the cookies!"

"Couldn't you use your own?"

"I don't have a backpack!"

"How do you come to school and not have a backpack?"

Paula stared at the bickering friends, sweat-dropping.

…

That last bit was rather random. I've got to stop making the characters fight so much! Someone asked what the name of the school was and, frankly, I don't have a name for it yet. Suggestions, please?

Oh, and another note. Danny is the name of a guy I like. I don't know why I put his name. Oh well.


	5. Plans

"It's already been two days of school…" Lucas muttered. It was currently Nutrition break right now, and Claus and Jeff were nowhere to be seen.

"I wonder how Duster, Kumatora, and Teddy are," Paula said, resting her chin on her hand.

"I'm sure they're fine," Poo said, taking a bite out of some nut bread.

"Yeah, we don't have anything to worry about," Ninten said.

"Um, Ninten, where's Jeff," Loid asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Ninten asked.

"Don't you have classes with him?" Ness asked.

"Well, yeah, but I don't know where he goes."

"I wonder where Claus is," Lucas murmured.

"I bet he and Jeff are probably in the bathrooms making out," Alex said. He was taking Danny's place since the latter was currently away from school.

"Alex, we don't want any more trouble. Jeff and Claus are not gay," Lucas said.

"But weren't you the one who said Jeff was gay?"

"Wha-? No, I didn't! I mean, I might've said it about Toy, but I didn't mean it!"

"Ok, whatever you say," someone said sarcastically. It was Danny's other friend, Carlos.

"Oh, look, Carlos is bagging on Jeff and Claus, what a surprise," Ness said. Danny, Alex, and Carlos were friends with Pokey, but Pokey never seemed to take the role as leader for them.

"Ok, guys, let's just calm down," Paula said.

"Why should I listen to you, you little b-"

Before Carlos could finish, Claus had appeared behind him and grabbed his shirt collar to try and choke him a bit.

"Ack! What are you doing?" Carlos managed to sputter out.

"Leave my friends alone…" Claus said darkly to Alex and Carlos. He let go of Carlos's shirt collar while Alex started at Claus in disbelief.

"What, are you trying to get suspended?" Alex asked.

"No, but I'm willing to if you guys don't leave."

"Claus…" Lucas muttered.

"Is that a threat?" Alex asked.

"I put your friend in the hospital. I'm more than positive I could do the same to you."

"All you did was break his jaw," Carlos said. Claus smirked.

"Claus, please, we don't need to resort to violence," Lucas said. Claus stared at his twin and smiled.

"I don't care. These idiots are the ones that keep the rumors going. I can't just sit around and let them torture my friends."

"Claus, we could handle this in another way," Ness said.

"We don't need to get in fights with a bunch of losers," Ninten said.

"Guys…" Claus said. The bell rang before anything could be done. Lucas stared at his brother, thinking about how his brother was slowly becoming more violent.

…

"What did you say to him?" A female voice asked.

"I just said I had a feeling that something would happen, nothing else," a male voice replied.

"We need to be more subtle," The female voice said.

"If they find out, we'll have to move again…"

"We can't have that happening, now can we?"

Lucas heard the whole thing.

'So I was right, huh?' Lucas thought. Something was definitely strange with the two new students. Even though he only heard them talk once, he recognized their voices.

"First Claus, now this?" Lucas said to himself. Too much was happening too fast.

Lucas walked into the hallway where the twins were and acted as if he heard nothing.

"Oh, Lucas, did you get Nana's message?" Chris asked, also acting as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, yes, I did."

"Ah, ok, thank you. Can we go to class together?" Chris asked, standing by Lucas's side. Risk stared at his sister one last time before going to his own class.

"Yeah, sure," Lucas said, walking.

…

"Lucas, you're worried about your brother, right?" Chris whispered. Lucas froze. They were in class, and Lucas and Chris had finished their work while Chris was waiting for Nana.

"How do you know about that?" Lucas asked

"I know you were eavesdropping on me and my brother in the hallway too."

"Chris, I didn't mean to-"

"Lucas, what I tell you right now, will you promise not to tell anyone?"

Lucas wasn't sure what Chris was trying to tell him, but he nodded his head.

"Ok, here I go… I have these… abilities that let me read minds or talk to people from my mind to their own."

Lucas's eyes widened when he realized what Chris was saying.

"It lets me make certain elements… like fire, or ice…"

"You are a PSI user…" Lucas whispered.

"PSI?"

"It's what that ability of yours is called. PSI. I have it, Claus has it, and some of my friends have it. But like how I won't tell anyone you have it, don't think twice about telling someone we have powers."

"Oh my… You're saying you can use it too?"

"Yes. Does Risk have those abilities, too?"

Chris nodded her head.

"So I really was right…" Lucas muttered.

"Hey Chris!" Nana said, walking up to the two.

"Oh, hi, Lucas," Nana said shyly.

"Hi, Nana," Lucas said.

"So, what were you two talking about?" Nana asked. Lucas and Chris stared at each other.

'What do we tell her?' Chris asked in Lucas's head.

'Make something up,' Lucas said in her head.

"Just about… music," Chris said.

"Music?" Nana asked.

"Yeah, like singing or playing an instrument," Lucas chimed in.

"Oh… ok, whatever."

Nana left the two.

"Music?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know, I panicked," Chris said.

"Well, what were you trying to cover?" Someone asked.

"Ah, Tony, how much did you hear?" Lucas asked.

"Why was there something I wasn't supposed to hear? I just wanted to know why you were talking to the freak again."

Lucas glared at Tony.

"Lucas, I know I'm probably not the best person in the world, but people keep harassing me and Jeff."

"And you want me to help?" Lucas asked bitterly.

"Well, yes, actually."

"Lucas, if anything, it's also my fault," Chris said.

"What? How?" Lucas and Tony asked.

"Because, you know, I'm the new kid, so people would be staring at me, and a lot of people would be wondering why I was talking to Nana even though everyone seems to hate her. Surely, that's why you were staring, right, Lucas?"

"I… yeah, that's why."

"Really?" Tony asked.

Lucas nodded his head.

"Ok, but how are we going to fix the whole 'Tony and Jeff are gay' thing?" Chris asked.

Lucas sat in thought.

"Hey, I want you to meet my friends," Lucas said to Chris and Tony. The two stared at each other.

…

Poor Lucas, too much stress for one person to handle… but what could he be planning?

Review, please

~GG09


	6. Tricks are For Kids

"Why do you want us to meet your friends, Lucas?" Chris asked after the bell rang for their next class.

"Uh, I'll explain later. Look, just bring Risk and meet us at one of the tables," Lucas said. Chris nodded and went to her class. Lucas didn't have the plan complete so he'd have to think about it in his next class, which was gym.

…

"Hey, Claus, I have a question," Risk said. He, Claus, Chris, and Alex were the first people in class, coincidentally.

"What's up?" Claus asked, glaring at Alex.

"Who's Pokey?"

The question surprised Claus so much he almost fell out of his chair.

"Pokey? Trust me, Risk, you don't want to mess with him. I mean, I understand why you're named what you're named, but still, don't mess with him. He's sick, twisted," Claus warned.

"Don't listen to the Gaylord, Pokey Minch is the best person you'll ever meet," Alex said. Claus growled.

"Risk, stop asking questions," Chris whispered to her twin. Alex, however, heard her.

"And why should he? It would be an honor for anyone to meet King P," the bully said proudly.

"King P? The guy's conceited now," Claus said with a laugh.

"Don't underestimate King P, Sandy Claus. He'll rule the world one day."

"Sandy Claus? What kind of a name is that?" Chris asked with a laugh.

"You stay out of this," Alex spat.

"Don't talk to my sister that way," Risk said angrily. The bell rang for class to start. Claus, Chris, and Risk all glared at Alex before facing the teacher.

…

"Ness, we really have to get to class," Paula said. The bell rang a few minutes earlier and would ring at any second.

"Hold on, this is going to be hilarious," Ness said, crouching in front of a wall. He had been planning the prank all day.

"Ness, please!"

"Shh, here they come."

Ness and Paula watched as Carlos and Danny, who had come in the middle of the day, were rushing to class. Ness waited for the right moment before throwing his strong yo-yo to the other end of the hall, causing Danny to trip and fall on his face.

"Aah! Crap, my jaw! Ow, that hurts," The boy yelled. Ness quickly grabbed Paula's wrist and ran to class, giggling all the way.

The two made it to the locker rooms right before the tardy bell rang. When they got out, Ness quickly retold the story as they went to their shared class with Paula.

"Ness, that wasn't very funny," Paula said, her hands resting on her hips.

"Then why were you giggling?" Ness asked, smiling. Paula gasped and faced the other way.

"Hey, guys, I invited Tony and the two new kids to hang out with us during lunch. Is that ok?" Lucas asked.

"Why wouldn't it?" Paula asked.

"Yeah, what would you need to invite them for anyway?" Ness asked, but was nudged by Paula.

"Well…"

Lucas leaned towards Ness and Paula, who, in turn, also leaned forward.

"I think Chris and Risk might have PSI."

"Who?" Paula asked.

"The two new kids," Ness whispered.

"Ness, Lucas, Paula, do you have anything you would like to share with the class?" The coach asked. The three teenagers shook their heads.

…

"Lucas," Chris said cheerfully as she walked up to him.

"Hey, Chris," Lucas said with a smile.

"So, where's Risk?"

"He had to get something from his locker."

"Oh, I see." The duo walked to Lucas and co.'s usual table.

"Hey, you're Chris, right?" Ninten asked.

"Uh-huh," the girl said cheerfully.

"You seem happy," Risk said, walking with Claus.

"It's just… I've never met anyone else who had PSI. To be honest, the whole reason we moved here was…"

Chris' voice trailed off.

"Was because we accidentally killed someone," Risk muttered. Ana gasped.

"You… killed someone?" Jeff whispered. Chris nodded her head.

"It was when we barely discovered we had these powers," she said, playing with her hair.

"You couldn't control it," Claus said. Chris looked down. Claus put his hand on her shoulder, Poo and Risk glaring at him.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Tony said, running to the group.

"I kind of got held up," Tony said.

"Oh, Pork, Tony, what happened to you?" Loid asked. Tony's clothes were torn and his hair was in places.

"Some kids beat me up."

"Who did it?" Ana asked.

"Carlos, Danny, and Alex," Tony murmured. Claus' grip on Chris' shoulder tightened.

"I thought I told them to back off," Claus said angrily.

"That bad, huh?" Risk asked.

"Claus, wait! I have a plan that might fix all of this," Lucas said, knowing his brother might run off and beat up Danny's little "gang". Claus stared at his twin before sitting down with Chris.

"Ok, what's your plan?" Claus asked.

"Here it is: People keep saying Tony and Jeff are gay, right?" Lucas started.

"Yeah, isn't that the only reason I'm here?" Tony spat. Everyone glared at him before turning back to Lucas.

"Well, everyone forgets something if something even bigger happens, right?" Lucas continued. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Then we have to come up with something so big, everyone will forget about it."

"I don't know, Lucas. This is pretty big. We'd need to come up with something huge," Paula said.

"Yeah, and this is what I came up with."

Everyone waited for Lucas to say whatever his big plan was, but he was staring at something angrily.

"What is it, Lucas?" Chris asked. Lucas pointed to something behind her and Claus. The two turned around and saw Pokey Minch.

"What do you want, Porky?" Ness asked.

"Nothing. I just wondered why a lot of people were here. Surely, there should be a large crowd around me, right?" Pokey said, laughing while putting his hands on his large belly.

"Conceited bastard," Ninten said under his breath.

"Look, I just came to see whether these two accepted my offer," Pokey said, pointing to Chris and Risk.

"We need more time to think about it, Pokey," Risk said.

"Ok, but I need your answer by the end of the week, or else," Pokey said, walking off.

"What did he offer you two?" Claus asked Chris.

"I can't remember right now, but let's not worry about it, ok?" She said nervously. Claus glanced at her before staring at his twin.

"Continue."

"Right. Well, what if…?"

"What if what?" Risk asked after a long moment of silence.

"Yeah, I've got nothing," Lucas said. Everyone groaned and muttered.

"What? I couldn't finish it while dodge balls were being chucked at me," Lucas said.

"Thanks for wasting our time," Tony said.

"Hey, at least he gave us something to think about," Claus said.

"We could think of something and give our suggestions tomorrow," Risk said.

"Yeah, that'll work," Jeff said.

"Ok then. We'll meet back here tomorrow at Nutrition?" Claus asked.

"Yeah, sure," Some of the thirteen-year-olds said in agreement.

"Alright then. It's settled," Ness said.

"Case dismissed," Ninten said. The teenagers stood up and stretched.

"Well, I think that went well," Ness said to Lucas.

"Yeah, well…" Lucas muttered.

"Wait! What was up with the 'case dismissed' jazz?" Chris asked Claus.

"You know what, I really don't know," Claus answered honestly.

…

**AHHHHHHHH! I HAD LUCAS' PLAN IN MY HEAD BUT I FORGOT IT! DAMN IT! PLEEEEEEEASE PLEEEEASE PLEASE GIVE SOME SUGGESTIONS!**

******And it seems like Claus is already making some moves, hmm? Hmm? No, he's just doing that to comfort her. **  


**~GG09**


	7. Hello, Mr Drago

**WOW, I haven't updated this story for a little while, huh? Sorry for the wait… Can you guys forgive me? Also, I planned out how the rest of the story will go, so be prepared for some dark stuff coming up, but not in this chapter, ok?**

…

Claus was sitting at the kitchen table, thinking of something that could fix everything, Lucas was helping Hinawa with dinner, and Flint had yet to be back from tending the sheep.

"Claus, we could really use your help making dinner. It will be ready sooner if you help," Hinawa told her son.

"I'm busy, Mom," Claus muttered.

"Doing what?" the mother asked.

"He's trying to think of a way to fix my accident," Lucas said.

"Oh, the issue with your friends?" Hinawa asked. Lucas nodded. Claus groaned. He hated it when Lucas said it was his accident. Yes, it was true, but it made Claus feel a bit guilty.

'_What could erase the past four days from everyone's head?_' Claus thought.

"Hmm," Claus thought, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

…

"Ok, who wants some soup?" Hinawa asked. Lucas' hand raced up. Claus was still in deep thought, so Lucas nudged him.

"What?" Claus asked, but he saw the bowl of soup placed in front of him, his eyes lit up.

"I'm home," Flint said, closing the door.

"Just in time. My soup's done," Hinawa said.

"You mean _our_ soup," Lucas said. Hinawa giggled as she put bowls in front of everyone.

"Dig in," Hinawa said cheerfully.

…

"Claus, let's go play with the Dragos," Lucas' words echoed in Claus' mind. It was about midnight, and Claus couldn't sleep. Lucas was asleep, though.

"Dragos," Claus muttered into the silent air. Claus' eyes suddenly widened.

"Dragos…. That's it! Lucas," Claus said, shaking his brother awake.

"What is it, Claus?" Lucas asked.

"I know what to do! We'll bring Dragos to the school!"

"Dragos? Wha- Are you insane? We could get suspended," Lucas bolted up.

"Boys, go to sleep," Hinawa said from the next room.

…

"You want to use what?" Risk asked Claus. They were in first period.

"I want to use Dragos to distract everyone. We'll get the biggest ones we can find and scare everyone. I could actually ask one to eat Pokey," Claus whispered back.

"Ok, Claus, but what exactly are Dragos?"

"Hmm, get your sister and meet me and Claus after school. I'm inviting you two to dinner."

"Huh?"

…

"What are Dragos?" Chris asked Lucas.

"What?" Lucas asked, startled.

"Risk said that your brother told him his plan was to bring Dragos to school," she said.

"Oh, Claus," Lucas said into his hands.

"He also said that Claus invited us to dinner…"

"Huh?"

"I don't know, I'm still confused…"

"Oh… well, do you… still want to go to my house for dinner?" Lucas asked. The two remained silent. After a while, Chris gave a small nod.

"Yeah… I also want to see what the Dragos look like…" she said.

"Ok… I'll have to ask Claus why he thought of Dragos, but you and your brother are still invited."

"Oh… Ok… I just hope we can figure this all out…" Chris muttered, sitting in her seat. Lucas sat in his own seat.

…

"… Dragos, Claus?" Ness asked. His face was a mixture of disbelief and 'this is so going into the hall of fame'.

"Yep," Claus said proudly.

"How will that work, though?" Ana asked.

"Simple. We bring the Dragos, they scare the crap out of everyone, we corner Danny and his friends and threaten them, and then we're suspended for demolishing half the school," Claus said, lifting his fingers with each portion of the sentence.

"This is a little… crazy," Ninten said.

"You're smiling, though, aren't you?" Claus said. Ninten chuckled and pulled his hat down to hide his face.

"Still… what are Dragos?" Risk asked.

"You'll love them, trust me," Claus said.

"They're not dangerous, are they?" Chris asked shyly.

"Trust me, they're not. They might not seem like it at first sight, but they're really friendly," Lucas said. This made Chris smile.

"Yeah, if Lucas the crybaby likes them, you'll like them for sure," Claus said, ruffling Lucas' hair. Lucas seemed annoyed by this. Chris laughed at the two.

"You two are really funny," Chris said between giggles. Claus smiled.

…

"Stupid Ness…" Danny muttered, rubbing his jaw.

"Are you sure that was him? It could've been Ninten…" Alex said.

"Yeah, but Ness is the one with the yo-yo," Carlos said.

"Oh," Alex said, feeling stupid.

"Where's Pokey?" Alex asked.

"Right here," Pokey said, appearing from the shadows.

"Oh, hello, Pokey," Carlos said.

"The two idiots still haven't accepted the offer?" Alex asked. Pokey shook his large head.

"We need to get them on our side…"

"What do we need them for?" Danny asked.

"I'll tell you further in the future. For now, we need to get them to agree with us and not them," Pokey said, staring at Ness who was in the distance.

"So we just have to get those two twins, right?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, the girl and the boy," Pokey said. He turned to Danny.

"You're going to help," Pokey ordered.

"What? Why me?" Danny asked.

"Because if anything, you look… uh, don't take this the wrong way…" Pokey's voice trailed off.

"I look…?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this but… you're the best looking out of all of us," Pokey said.

"King P! You can't possibly admit that you're not the most handsome boy," Alex suddenly said.

'Kiss up,' Danny and Carlos thought.

"Yes, unfortunately I must," Pokey said with a sigh. Even though Danny would never admit it, he thought Pokey was a little conceited, but whenever he'd think bad thoughts about Pokey, something would make him suddenly see how good Pokey was and make him forget about the bad things completely. It was almost as if he were being brainwashed…

"Pokey, how can I help?" Danny asked quietly, his eyes hidden by his hair. Pokey smiled menacingly.

…

After school, Lucas managed to find Chris and Risk, and with Claus and the rest of the kids from Tazmily, Lucas, Claus, Chris and Risk all went to Lucas and Claus' house. The twin brothers also found out that Chris and Risk were staying in the Yado Inn for awhile.

"Tha-that's a… Drago?" Risk asked, staring at the large green dinosaur. Claus nodded his head.

"Cool, isn't it?" Claus said, smiling.

"It looks kind of scary," Chris said, a few feet farther away from Lucas, Claus and Risk.

"Come on! They're not _that_ scary," Claus said. Unfortunately, immediately after he said that, the father Drago let out a loud roar. Risk let out a small, uneasy laugh. Lucas went up to Chris.

"Come on, they're not scary," Lucas said in a calming voice.

"…Ok," Chris said, standing next to her brother.

"So… do you want to see the Dragos?" Chris asked her brother. Risk nodded and went up to the baby Drago.

"He's… cute," Chris said, but she still looked nervous.

"I don't want to rush you two or anything, but we need to get these guys to the school if we want to fix everything," Claus said.

"Well… I guess we'd like them if we were sugar crazed," Risk said.

"That was the best day of school, ever," Chris said, reminiscing.

"Good times… good times."

Lucas and Claus sweat-dropped at this.

"Hey, do you guys want to eat now? It's getting late," Lucas said.

"Sure," Risk said.

…

"We're home," Claus announced loudly when the four kids got to the house.

"Oh, hello, boys. Who are you're friends?" Hinawa asked. Risk and Chris stared at each other nervously.

"This is Risk," Claus said, gesturing to the male twin.

"And this is Chris," Lucas said, gesturing to the female twin.

"Er, it's n-nice to meet you, uh…" Risk's voice trailed off since he didn't know Hinawa's name.

"Hinawa," she said.

"Oh, thank you. It's nice to meet you, then, Hinawa," Risk and Chris said together.

"Nice to meet you, too. Are you two staying for dinner?"

"Yeah, they're helping us with something… school-related," Claus said.

"Okay, then… well, I was going to make a simple omelet meal for dinner, but-" Hinawa was cut off by Lucas and Claus.

"NO, NO, NO, MOM, IT'S OK! THEY'LL TAKE IT!"

"We're fine with whatever you're cooking, Hinawa," Chris said quietly.

"Hm, ok. Then I'll make omelets tonight."

Lucas and Claus let out sighs of relief.

…

**I'm sorry this was short, but at least we're making progress!**

**Review**

**~GG09**


	8. PK insert something here!

HEY GUYS! THIS IS IMPORTANT! You know how I told you all I never played the Mother games? Well, I finished watching the LP's for Mother 1 and 3, and I'm starting Mother2/EarthBound so now I know Ninten's and Lucas' stories, so now I must learn Ness'. Just letting you guys know and now I know that Giegue was in Mother 1 and Giygas was in Mother 2.

…

"I want to show you… warm moments and dreams… give light to the small one who walks his path alone," Hinawa softly sang as she cooked.

"Lucas, Chris and Risk still don't like the Dragos. How can we get them to like the Dragos," Claus asked his brother. Chris and Risk were currently playing with Boney.

"Well, it's not like we can force them to like the Dragos," Lucas said.

"Besides, we're not even sure if they like them or not. For all we know, they probably _do_ like the Dragos," Lucas continued.

"Hmm… I guess so. I'm going to go ask them," Claus suddenly said, getting up.

"I- What? Claus! Don't just go and do that," Lucas said, getting up and trying to run after his brother, but sadly tripped and fell no the ground face first.

…

"Hey! Chris! Risk!"

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

Chris and Risk looked up from Boney to see Claus running out the door and suddenly getting tackled by Lucas.

"Don't... ask… them!" Lucas yelled.

"Uhm…" Risk said as he stared at the two twins fighting.

"Guys?" Chris asked. When the two didn't respond, Chris and Risk stared at each other and used telepathy on Lucas and Claus respectively.

'Seriously, what's so bad about asking them if they like the Dragos?' Claus thought.

'Idiot! They'll think we think they're wimps,' Lucas thought. Chris sighed at this.

"PK Freeze," she muttered as she froze the two twins.

…

"How did they freeze again?" Flint asked.

"My bad. They were fighting, so I froze them to stop them," Chris said.

"W-w-w-w-w-well you c-c-c-c-c-could've w-warned us," Claus said. There was a large brown blanket on top of him and Lucas.

"Sorry," Chris said a bit sarcastically.

"Chris, Risk, could you two help us out? We really should get some medicine and firewood to make sure these two don't catch a cold," Hinawa said. Chris went with Hinawa to find some medicine herbs while Risk went to help Flint get firewood. Claus sat impatiently waiting for the four to return.

"How long does it take to get firewood?" Claus grumbled to himself.

"It's d-dark outside, Claus. It could take them awhile. Besides, it's only been… f-five minutes," Lucas said, resisting the urge to sneeze. Eventually, Lucas fell asleep, while Claus was still waiting.

"Ugh, I'm so bored," Claus moaned. After a while, Claus heard the door close.

"Finally," he muttered as he saw Hinawa walk into the room.

"Where'd Chris go?" Claus asked.

"She and Risk went home. It's getting late, Claus. Get some rest, ok hon?" Hinawa said to her eldest son.

"Hmm… ok," Claus said, closing his eyes.

…

"Hmm… 'DCMC, Performing Live at – High School.' Who are DCMC?" Risk asked.

"You don't know who DCMC are?" Tony asked, shocked. The flyers had been posted all around the school and everyone seemed to be overjoyed by what it said.

"Well, no, because I just moved here," Risk said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, right… my bad. DCMC is the name of the college band that used to go here. They're really good. You should hear them play."

"Hmm… ok," Risk said, walking away.

'DCMC… They sound kind of like another band… but I forgot the name. I think it was ACBC or something,' Risk thought as he walked.

…

"Hey, Duster, are you going to help DCMC this time?" Kumatora asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, they're playing soon, huh? I might. It depends on what I'm doing at the time," Duster responded.

"What are you talking about? You're lazier than Ness' dog, uhhm…." Kumatora's voice trailed off as she tried to remember the dog's name.

"King," Duster said.

"Yeah, right! King! You're lazier than King, Dust, and that's saying something!"

"Fine, I'll help them," Duster said with a sigh. "But I'll have to look for my afro. If the manager found out I was still a high school student, it could be trouble for the band."

"Well, I think I can help you. Maybe just make sure that you actually find it," Kumatora said, folding her arms across her chest.

"You'd do that? Wow, thanks Kumatora. And here I thought you were just some selfish princess." Duster realized his mistake before he even finished the sentence. A dark look appeared over Kumatora's face as she pulled some gloves out of her bags.

"Oh no… Please, Kuma, not the brass knuckles!" Duster pleaded before he was punched in the gut.

…

"Hey, Ana?" Ninten asked.

"Yeah, Ninten?" Ana asked, turning around to face her crush.

"I need your help with something."

"Another late science project?"

"No, no! Nothing like that. You see, there's this girl…"

Ana gasped.

"Oh? Who is it?" Ana asked, excited.

"Wait let me finish. You, see, this girl… I met her early on my adventure," Ninten started. Ana's eyes widened. A sense of panic came to her.

'Wha-? I came late on Ninten's adventure so… who's he talking about?'

"Y-yeah…?" Ana said, doing her best to make her voice sound normal.

"And… she likes me and I know she likes me, but I don't like her. I…"

Ana sighed in relief.

"I need you to do me a favor."

"Yeah, Ninten?"

"Pretend to be my girlfriend."

When Ninten said this, Ana was ready to faint.

…

Ohohoho, Cliffhangers! C'mon, you gotta love 'em! Sorry I haven't posted in a little while. I'm going through some personal stuff right now…

I'M EDITING EARTHBOUND SPRITES!

On my profile, go to my account 'lettucegirlchristy' from DeviantArt. I've already edited a few and actually made a sprite for Chris & Risk. If you guys want some, tell me which main Earthbound character (Ness, Paula, Jeff, Poo, Tony, etc.) you want edited and tell me what you want changed. If you have a DA account, message me it with the details or comment on one of my pictures letting me know. If you DON'T, message me your email and what you want changed. Ok, that is all!

~GG09


	9. TONDA GOSSA!

"Tonda Gossa," a student said, passing by Chris and Nana.

"Tonda Gossa? What's that?" Chris asked.

"It's the catchphrase for DCMC, one of the college bands," Nana explained.

"Oh… Are they any good?"

"I'm not sure. I've never heard them play before."

"Oh, I see," Chris said, ending the conversation.

"Hmm… Hey, Nana, is there anyone you like at the school?" Chris asked when the two were almost at their next class. Nana's eyes widened.

"A-anyone I like? N-no, I… I don't like anyone," Nana said, flustered. She walked quickly to the classroom and sat down, pulling out her notes to look busy.

'It was just a question,' Chris thought, sitting next to Lucas. Nana turned slightly, staring at Lucas, who was too busy reading something to notice. Nana smiled softly to herself as she turned back.

…

"Duster, Duster! Hey, Duster, do you have a date for Homecoming?" A Senior asked Duster.

"Huh? Do I have a date…? Why, are you asking me to go with you?" Duster asked, confused.

"Yeah! I was, like, thinking of going with you," the girl said.

"Uhh…" Duster didn't know how to respond.

'Oh, great, Kumatora's coming,' Duster thought. Kumatora stared at the other girl strangely.

'Wow, this guy's such a loser. Me, going with him? As if,' the girl thought.

"Hey, blondie, stop wasting Duster's time and keep moving," Kumatora said, standing next to Duster.

"What'd you say?"

"Earlier I heard you and one of your slutty friends talking about how you were going to try to get losers to go with you guys to the dance. Well, beat it, because he's not interested!"

"Wha-? You can't talk to me like that," the girl said, ready to throw a punch at Kumatora before Kumatora grabbed her fist and held it as if it were nothing.

"W-what?"

"Are you really trying? Because it feels like a baby's fist," Kumatora said, tightening her grip.

"Ah! Ow! That hurts!"

Kumatora let go of the girl's hand as the girl held it.

"What the hell?" The unnamed girl said.

"GET LOST BEFORE I BREAK YOUR ARM," Kumatora said loudly, scaring the girl and literally making her run away.

"Uh… thanks, Kuma…" Duster said, shocked.

"That girl was tricking you. You should be careful. If anyone asks if you have a date, just tell them you're going with me," Kumatora said.

"With… you?"

"Yeah," Kumatora said, getting her bag and walking away.

"So does this mean we're going together?" Duster called after her.

"Sure, why not?" Kumatora said, her back turned to Duster as she walked.

Duster just stood in his place, trying to figure out whatever had just happened.

…

"Hey, if the Runaway Five play, I'm so going to the concert," a student said.

"Who are the Runaway Five?" Nana, Chris, Risk, Lucas and Claus all asked, staring at each other afterwards.

"The Runaway Five are like DCMC in Eagleland," Ness said. Nana had gone with Chris to hang out with Lucas and friends.

"Oh, I get it," the five said together again. Glaring at each other, they all shouted "FUZZY PICKLES MUFFIN BASKET MIO LAZY CHEESECAKE! Ahhh," They all said, smiling and pointing at each other.

"Uh… ok?" Ness and Ninten said simultaneously. The two stared at each other, freaked out.

"Alright, enough of that," Paula and Ana said at the same time.

"Ok, everyone stop talking," Tony said. So everyone remained silent for a few minutes.

"Can we talk now?" Claus asked. Everyone sighed in relief.

…

Bah, incredibly short. And I apologize. I'm just a little stressed since my b-day is Friday and my crush is coming and I'm nervous and excited and, so yeah… We get a little more into DusterxKumatora and here about the Runaway Five… Personally, I like DCMC better. Wait, what are you doing? Put the gun down, you here me? PUT IT DOWN! *runs for dear life*


	10. Discussions

Ninten and Ana were outside, sitting by a tree. It was currently lunch break, so they had time to spare.

"So, Ninten, who did you say this girl was?" Ana asked.

"Her name's Pippi, and she's practically in love me," Ninten said, his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed. Ana's eye twitched at Ninten's words.

"Oh, ok, but…. Why do you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend? You could've picked Paula or maybe even Chris. They're prettier than me," Ana said a bit sadly.

"What? Ana, you're a lot prettier than both of them. You're beautiful, and I've thought that ever since I first met you," Ninten said quickly. A few seconds later, Ninten's eyes widened and he blushed furiously.

"Y-You really think so?" Ana asked.

"I- …uh, I gotta go! Sorry, Ana!" Ninten raced back to the school, leaving Ana alone.

…

"Uh, Claus?" a voice said. Claus turned around.

"Oh, hey Chris. What's up?"

"Um, Claus, this may sound a little weird, but uh…"

Chris never got to finish her sentence because at that moment, Fuel came.

"Hey, Claus! Hey…."

"Chris," the girl said swiftly.

"Chris! Right. Hey… Claus, can I talk to you for a moment?" Fuel asked, pulling Claus away from Chris.

"What is it, Fuel?" Claus asked when they were alone.

"Hey, I don't want to be rude or anything, but stop hanging out with Chris," Fuel said quietly.

"_**WHAT**_?" Claus yelled.

"_Shh_! Look, everyone knows you and Richie are going to end up together, so stop flirting with other girls, for Richie's sake."

"First, I'm _not_ flirting with her! Second, I don't even like Richie that way, so stop playing matchmaker and let me hang out with my _friend_," Claus said, walking away from Fuel.

"What was that all about?" Chris asked.

"Nothing. So what were you gonna tell me?" Claus asked the girl.

"Huh? Oh, right. Well, you see-"

Before Chris could ask her question, the bell had rung.

"_Zut_! Well, I have to go to class," Chris said, picking up her backpack.

"Ok…. Wait, _zut_?" Claus asked, wondering what the word meant.

…

"Pokey, I still don't think it's a good idea," Danny said.

"Well, I'm in charge, so what I say matters," Pokey said, pointing a grubby pinky towards himself.

"Yeah, Danny, are you scared you'll get rejected?" Carlos asked. Alex smirked, but Danny just glared at

Carlos.

"Ha-ha, that's so funny I forgot to laugh," Danny said sarcastically.

"Look, Danny, all you need to do is ask the girl Chris out and get her away from those freaks. We only need one of them to make this work," Pokey said.

"Ok…" Danny said, still unsure.

"Ok what, Danny?"

"Ok… King P."

…

"Hey, Angie, you know what I noticed?" Richie said to her friend.

"What's that, Richie?" Angie responded.

"Those new kids, Chris and Risk, they never seem to come to school with us but we always see them here everyday."

"Strange, I noticed that too. Maybe they just come earlier," Angie said, knowing her friend had a bit of a dislike towards Chris.

"Or maybe they know magic and teleport to school," Richie said with a laugh.

"Maybe, but Risk is too cute to be one of those weird magic-using freaks!"

She was joking, but what she didn't know was that Paula was secretly listening to the conversation.

'Oh no, I should tell them about this…' Paula thought.

"Did you just say you think the new boy's cute?" Richie said in disbelief.

"Wha- w-well, at least I don't have a crush on Claus!" Angie blurted out. Richie's face turned red as she covered Angie's mouth.

"Angie! Shush!"

"Haha, why not just tell him, Rich?" Angie said, avoiding Richie's hand from grabbing her mouth.

"Well, he's always hanging around those girls, Paula, Ana and Chris! It's not fair! Why doesn't Claus hang out with me?" Richie said loudly. Richie turned and saw that everyone was staring at her.

…

"Hey, Chris, Risk," Paula said, pulling the two away.

"Paula, what is it?" Risk asked.

"How do you two get to school?" Paula asked. Chris and Risk stared at each other.

"We use PK Teleport. Why, is there a problem?"

"Yes, actually. Two of the kids from Tazmily noticed that you never seem to go to school with them. Angie and Richie. Richie also has a crush on Claus," Paula added.

"Who has a crush on Claus?" Lucas asked.

"That girl, Richie from Tazmily," Risk said.

"I had a feeling. Fuel was telling me earlier to make sure I help get Claus and Richie together," Lucas sad with a sigh.

"Personally, I think my brother should be with whoever he wants to be with."

"That's great, Lucas," Chris said. "Be with whoever you want to be with, too, Lucas." Lucas smiled at Chris' words.

"Thanks," he said with a nod. Chris nodded back.

…

Well, with my Biology Final today, I couldn't type much but well, this story is so fun to write for me!

Zut is French for something like Darn, so I had Chris use it. Also, try typing a fanfic while listening to Paradise Line! So awesome!

Side Note: Find me on Facebook as PsiAwesometastic!


	11. Sad Ness

Ness walked back to Onett, dragging his baseball bat behind him. Ness stared at the starry night sky and smiled.

"Mom, I'm home," Ness called when he got home. Ness was shocked when he saw that his mother was crying and holding Tracy, who was also crying and muttering something inaudible to Ness.

"Mo... Mom?" Ness dropped his baseball bat and ran to his mom. "Mom, Mom, what's wrong?"

"Oh, Ness," Ness' mom said, hugging her son tightly. Ness knew something was very wrong.

…

"I'm so sorry, I hope he's ok," Hinawa said through the phone.

"Mom, what happened to Ness' dad?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about, Dear. Go to bed."

"But Mom-"

"No buts. Off to bed."

Lucas sighed and went to his room where Claus sat on his bed.

"So what happened, Luke?" Claus asked, anxious.

"I don't know, Mom wouldn't tell me. I feel bad for Ness, though. It must've been serious."

"Yeah… Hey, why don't we make a Get Well card for Ness' dad?"

"That's a great idea, Claus!"

…

"Hi, Dad," Ness said through the phone.

"Hi, Ness," his father said, coughing.

"Dad, mom's really worried. When will you be out of the hospital?"

"I don't know, Ness. The doctors said they had to run more tests."

"Dad, can I visit you tomorrow? You work so much I never see you."

"Of course, Ness *cough* *wheeze* You can, you can come after school, ok?"

"Ok, Dad. Can I bring a friend? I think they might be able to help you."

"Yeah, bring as many as you like."

Ness smiled.

"Thanks Dad. Get better. Mom, Tracy & I love you."

"I love you all, too, Ness. Bye."

"Bye Dad," Ness said. He heard the click of the phone from the other end, but he held on to his phone, sobbing quietly.

"We'll make you better Dad…" Ness said, crying louder.

…

"Lucas, wake up," Claus said, shaking his twin.

"What, Claus?' Lucas almost yelled.

"Shh! Dad's home, maybe Mom will tell him what happened."

"Oh. That's… good."

"Yeah. Keep quiet." Claus said as he hid at the edge of the staircase.

"_Flint, you know the boys' friend Ness?_" Hinawa's soft voice said quietly.

"_Yes, why, did something happen?_" Flint asked.

"_Yes. His father… he was sent to the hospital_."

"_Why, what happened?"_

Lucas accidentally, pushed Claus while trying to listen.

"Lucas!" Claus yelled.

"Lucas, Claus, bed! Now," Hinawa yelled when she saw her two sons still awake.

"Ok, Mom…" Lucas said. But Claus stayed hidden.

"_So what happened?_" Flint asked.

"_Oh, right. You see, Ness' father was in a terrible car accident. He got trapped in his car and all the exhaust was too much. He had a horrible asthma attack and was rushed to the hospital. He has trouble breathing and broke both legs and his hand._"

Claus gasped silently.

"_Oh my. Should we visit him at the hospital in Onett?_"

"_That's a wonderful idea_."

"_Great. What's the fellow's name?"_

"_I need to check with Ana, Ness' mother_."

'_Ana?_' Claus thought.

"_Yes, hello, Ana? I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, but where is your husbands hospital room? Oh, thank you, and, this is embarrassing, but what was his name? I forget. …Thank you. My husband and I will visit him with the kids tomorrow. Thank you. Again, I'm terribly sorry. Good night. Try to get some sleep_."

Hinawa hung up the phone.

"_His room is Room 17 on the 4__th__ floor._"

"_And his name?_" Flint asked.

"_Oh… wait, let me check if the kids are still listening_."

Claus heard this and quietly ran to his room, going to his bed and pretending to sleep. He heard Hinawa open the door for a moment, close it, and go back downstairs. Claus grabbed Lucas and put their ears against the door.

"So what happened, Claus?" Lucas asked.

"Shh! I'm trying to hear." Claus whispered, straining his ear. One word caught his interest.

"_Ninten_."

…

**Cliffhanger. And I'm sorry if this is a sad chapter, but I was listening to a sad rendition of Smiles and Tears and I just typed this. Don't worry, Older Ninten isn't dying, but it still kinda sucks what happened. Yes, I believe that Ana and Ninten are Ness' parents, so don't go saying that it isn't true. I also felt like letting the spotlight shine on Ness for once. Poor kid. WHAT HAVE I DONE? TO NINTEN TOO?**


	12. Revelation

'**Kay, so looks like I have a bit of explaining to so, but don't worry, it'll be explained in the distant future. Please don't kill me.**

…

Claus' head was spinning.

'_Ninten? Ana? It… it can't be!_' Claus thought. '_Ninten and Ana are here, with us, so how is Ness…?_'

"Claus?" Lucas said, snapping his older brother out of his trance.

"Lucas, you don't think that…" Claus started.

"That the Ninten and Ana Mom mentioned are the same as the ones we know?" Lucas said, finishing his brother's statement.

"Yes!" Claus sad, horrified. "How is this possible?"

"We've known Ninten, Ana and Loid for so long… How could they not have told us something like this?"

"I don't know, Luke, but we need to figure out what's going on. Tomorrow, at school, we'll question it as soon as everyone's together," Claus said, thinking up the plan as thoughts continued to swim in his head. Lucas nodded.

"Mm. I just hope that it doesn't have anything to do with…" Lucas' voice trailed off.

"With what, Luke?" Claus asked, unable to think of what his brother was thinking about and too stressed to pick Lucas' brain. Lucas just smiled at Claus.

"Nothing. Let's go back to sleep. We have a big day ahead of us," Lucas said, standing up and going to his bed. Claus was reluctant, but he did the same anyway. It's not as if he were able to sleep that night, with all the thoughts racing in his mind.

…

"Ness, I'm so sorry," Paula said, comforting her boyfriend.

"It's ok. Besides, I'm taking the gang to visit my dad and heal him," Ness said reassuringly.

"You can't have too many people in his room. It's against the law."

"Come on, Paula, you're overreacting. And I'm not taking everyone. Just a… certain few."

"Oh, ok. Are you taking me, Ness? I've always wanted to meet your father!"

"Sorry, Paula. Not this time."

"O-oh. So then, who are you taking?"

"I'll tell you later." Ness said, standing up and going to the baseball field.

…

"Lucas, I heard about what happened to Ness' dad. Is he ok?" Nana asked.

"My mom wouldn't tell me," Lucas said, not sure what to tell her.

"Oh. I see. So, Lucas, I know this isn't really the right time, but do you maybe wanna go on-"

"Hey, Nana," Chris yelled, glaring at her friend.

"Chris, what's wrong?"

"You know what's wrong! Come on, you're coming with me," Chris said, going up to her friend and grabbing Nana's arm.

"B-but, wait, Chris!" Nana said as she was dragged off. Lucas sweatdropped. He then looked around and saw Fuel.

"Oh, hey, Fuel, wait up!" Lucas said, running up to his friend.

"Hi, Lucas. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you, about my brother and Richie."

"Oh, yeah, me, Ange and Nichol are trying to get them back together. You want to he-?"

"Fuel, listen to me. Stop messing with my brother's love life. It's bad enough that Richie broke his heart one time, but twice is too much. He may not look like it, but Claus was really upset when they broke up last year. He's still upset, in fact! He's trying to be as friendly as possible to Richie, so please, for Claus, just leave him alone."

"Lucas…"

"Fuel, please."

Fuel stared at Lucas for some time before nodding.

"Ok, I'll stop. It's a shame, though. Richie told me herself she was jealous of the girls Claus hangs out with. I guess I'll just have to tell her what you just told me."

"Fuel, don't. Claus would kill me if he knew I told anyone that, especially Richie!"

"Ok, ok, geez, I was just messing with you. Oh, hey, have you heard?"

"What?"

"Some strange man appeared on the islands the other day. He calls himself Fassad or something."

"Fassad? That's a weird name."

"Yeah, but I heard he was trying to make Tazmily more like Podunk or Onett."

"What? Why would he want to do that?"

"I'm not sure. But if you asked me, I'm kind of glad for some change," Fuel said as he walked away from Lucas.

…

'It's time,' Claus thought. Everyone was there except for Tony, Chris, and Risk, but they weren't important. Not right now.

"Hey, Ness, it's a shame about what happened to your dad," Claus said as he walked up to his friends.

"Yeah, hopefully with Ninten and Ana we might be able to heal him." Claus' eyes widened at Ness' words, but continued anyway.

"Ninten and Ana? Why them?" Claus said, pushing Ness further into his trap.

"What do you mean 'why us'?" Ana said angrily.

"I mean, why not Paula? She's a healer too." Claus continued.

"I chose Ninten and Ana because they're closest to me," Ness said, getting a bit angry.

"Closest? You're closer to Paula, Jeff and Poo."

"Not as close as Ninten and Ana."

"You know what's funny about that? My mom called your mom yesterday and she said something that caught my interest."

"What was that?" Ness said nervously.

"Well, she called our mom 'Ana' and your dad…"

"Claus," Ninten said.

"Ninten. Your parents are Ana and Ninten, Ness." Everyone gasped except for Ninten, who simply laughed. Claus moved his gaze to Ninten.

"It's about time you guys caught on. I was starting to get worried," Ninten said with a mischievous smile.

"Have any explaining to do?" Claus asked the older boy.

…

**Chapter 13: Secrets. Selected quote: **_"'Giegue'? Who's 'Giegue'?"_

**Well, looks like Claus shows off his brilliance while a familiar person appears. I also have to fix some things. This is before Lucas ever went on his journey, hence why Hinawa's alive. Also, I might do a poll later about Claus ending up with Richie again. The couple will end up breaking up anyway at some point, so don't be afraid to vote no. But not all for yes. We don't want to make Chris depressed and lonely and forced to the hands of a certain person, now do we? Also, I finished typing the next two chapters, but I won't post them until the poll is finished. Sorry.**

**ALSO, I'm planning on doing an animated series for this fanfic, so please click the DeviantArt link on my profile page and check it out, because I NEED VOICE ACTORS AND THERE'S A LOT OF ROLES TO FILL.**

**Review. I'm starting to get scared that you guys forgot about this story.**


	13. Secrets

"Damn, I really thought we would've had a bit more time," Ninten said.

"It was only a matter of time," Loid said.

"Yeah, mind explaining, Loid?" Claus said angrily. Loid glared at Claus. He was about to speak when Ninten spoke.

"You wanna know what happened? I screwed up, ok?" Ninten said.

"What do you mean?" Claus asked.

"It was after we defeated Giegue," Ana said.

"Giegue? Who's Giegue?" Paula asked.

"Giegue, needless to say, is your Giygas," Ninten said. Paula gasped at the mention of his name.

"Anyway, Loid, Ana and I spent our days enjoying the peace. But it eventually started to get boring. Fighting Giegue really brought a lot of adventure and excitement. I'm not saying I was glad Giegue nearly tried o take over the world, but he made the days less boring. He also let me meet Ana and Loid."

"Enough of that crap. Just skip to the part where you got here." Claus said, fed up.

"Hold your horses, I'm getting there."

"Guys?" a familiar voice asked. "What's… going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, Chris. Ninte-"

"Is it about how Ninten, Ana and Loid messed are not meant to be here?" Chris suddenly said in a strange voice. She was smiling wickedly.

"Ch-Chris. How did you know that?" Claus asked.

"Whoa, what? I just took a random guess there," Chris said, causing Claus to fall on the ground. "But seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."

"Ninten, continue," Claus said.

"Well, I found out Loid was trying to build a machine to travel through time. Normally I hate science, but when I heard this, I needed to know how I could help. So, over the next few months, Ana, Loid and I tried to build a time machine. I used some of PK Teleport to get the machine to work. Finally we were ready. Loid didn't know what the possible side effects were, but we were willing to accept it anyway.

"PK Teleport really messed up, though. When we got here, the machine broke, so we had to rebuild another. We had to do it in secret, and since we were in an unfamiliar place, we didn't know how we were supposed to get the materials. Ana later found out that Podunk, Snowman, Merrysville and all the other places from my country had somehow merged with Eagleland, the two becoming neighboring countries. We went back to our home and somehow discovered that everyone we knew was the exact same age as when we left, which had been almost twenty years. I can't remember how many years exactly. But everyone was also acting as if the countries had always been merged." Ninten stared at Ness.

"Back when you were fighting Giygas, Paula sent out a prayer. She asked for help against Giygas. Ana somehow heard her, so we did everything we could to travel to where you fought him. But you had already defeated him by the time we reached you. So we decided to blend in the crowd and greet you guys when you came out. You remember how we became friends, right Ness?"

"Yeah, you guys all cheered for us and then you, Ninten, told how glad you were that the earth was safe. I asked you what your name was and I remembered my mom once saying that my dad's name was Ninten. I needed to know the truth, but I guess Claus found out for me, eh?" Ness explained.

"So you knew and you still didn't tell any of us?" Poo said.

"I didn't want you guys to get involved with it. I figured this was something I had to do alone."

"You don't have to do everything alone, Ness. You can trust your friends," Paula said. Ness smiled at her.

"Yeah, but what I want to know is if Ninten and Ana would be willing to come with me to help my father. That's actually how I was planning to find out if Ninten was the same Ninten as my father, and it looks like it is," Ness said. Everyone stared between Ness and Ninten.

"Yeah, I just hope I'm not too beat up," Ninten said without a thought. Everyone was shocked at how quick his response was.

"So, Ana, I guess you don't have to worry about Pippi," Ninten said, staring at the girl.

"Wha-what?" Ana asked.

"I know you like me Ana. Ness is physical proof that you and I are meant for each other."

"Y-yeah, but I mean, did we really have to find out like this?" Ana said, groaning. Ninten laughed and pat Ana's head.

"Wait," Chris said. "If you're here, Ninten, then that must explain what's happening to the Ninten of Ness' time."

"What?" Claus asked.

"Think about it. There are currently two Nintens, Anas, and Loids. It was only a matter of time before something started going wrong. Since a younger Ninten is here, that means Older Ninten is starting to disappear because of it."

"What? That's crazy!"

"… It's not," Loid said. "It makes a lot of sense actually. The car accident Ness' dad was in probably was no accident."

"So you're saying… someone's trying to kill me?" Ninten said unassured.

"Not kill you, but get rid of one of the coexisting Nintens. The same will happen to me and Ana if we don't do something about it."

"We need help, then," Ana said. "And fast." Lucas stared at Jeff.

"Jeff, I think… I think Dr. Andonuts, your father, might be Loid," he said.

"Wh-what?" Jeff said in shock.

"Yeah, Loid, what's your last name?" Claus asked.

"A -Andonuts…" Loid said, shaking.

"What's wrong, Loid?" Chris asked. Loid suddenly sniffed.

"I have a son!" Loid cried out, much to the dismay of others.

"I just wonder who the mother is," Poo said.

"Yeah, but that's not very important. Why'd you mention Andonuts, Luke?" Claus said.

"Maybe he can help Loid rebuild the time machine with Jeff."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Jeff said. He stared at Loid. "Who would've ever thought I'd get along with my father when he was my age?" Loid laughed.

"So now that we have everything figured out, we need to get everyone back to their proper time to fix the balance of the universe," Claus said. Everyone but Chris stared at him in shock.

"…What?"

"You said something…. Smart for once!" they all yelled, causing Chris and Claus to sweatdrop at it.

"He's technically been the one to figure everything out," Chris said.

"Yeah, that's right! I figured everything out while you just stood there, Lucas! What the hell? I thought we were doing this together," Claus said, angry at his twin.

"Well, that's when Chris came and apologized to me," Lucas said.

"Apologize? For what?" Claus asked.

"Heh, you see, Nana was going to try and ask Lucas out earlier, but I sort of dragged her off before she could," Chris said with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, ok. So, Lucas," Claus said, suddenly appearing behind his brother. "Looks like you have a date, huh?"

"Actually, I need to talk to Nana about it to see-"

"Yeah, whatever man! You have a date with a girl you like!"

Lucas laughed nervously. "Claus, I'm nervous though."

"What's to be nervous about?" Chris asked.

"W-well, this'll be my…. First… Date," Lucas said.

"That's ok, Lucas. I haven't gone on my first date either," Chris said.

"Really?"

"Nope. Actually, come to think of it, Claus I was going to tell you something, but that Fuel kid interrupted me," Chris said.

"Oh, yeah, and to think it was about _her_. So what were you going to tell me?" Claus said, remembering Fuel's idiotic plan.

"Do you know some girl named Richie? She's been staring at me as if she hates me and I've never really spoken to her," Chris said. A vein popped from Claus' head.

"That's… probably my fault," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Chris…. Richie and I used to date. But she broke up with me and some time later she told me she still hadn't gotten over me and she wanted to get back together again. I told her it was her fault for ruining what we had and now she's jealous of every insanely cute girl I hang out with."

"Oh, I see. Wait… did you say I'm… cute?" Everyone stared at Claus, who realized his mistake.

"Crap."

…

**Plot twist! Next Chapter: Hidden Feelings. Selected quote: "Wait, who did you say that was?"**

**Review. I spent like two hours typing this.**


	14. Hidden Feelings

In case you didn't notice, TRIPLE UPDATE!

…

Claus was stuck. Either admit his feelings or run. 'I think running is best for now,' he thought as he looked around for a distraction.

"Hey, what's that?" Claus said as he fled from the scene, leaving everyone staring at the Mr Saturn mascot yelling random words.

'_How did it go from Ninten being Ness' Dad to me saying that_?' Claus thought as he slapped his face. (A/N: Better known as 'facepalming' :D)

"Well, _that_ was weird," Jeff said, pushing up his glasses. Chris stood there, very confused.

"Watch, the rest of these imbeciles will spread around that Claus likes Chris or something," Ninten said, staring at some of the students who were whispering.

"So I'm cute, is that it?" Chris muttered sadly to herself.

"D-Don't worry, Chris. I'm sure Claus will explain when the time comes," Paula said.

"Explain what?" Risk asked, barely meeting up with the group. Both girls stared at each other.

"Uh…"

…

"Claus said _what_?" Richie yelled.

"He said she was cute and then he ran away," a girl said. "What a cowardly thing to do."

"Oh, Claus! You're going to pay for this!" Richie continued yelling.

Chris heard from another hall and felt saddened.

"I'll get that Chris girl, too!"

When Chris heard this, she immediately turned around and walked the other way.

'_I should really watch out for Richie_,' Chris thought, alarmed.

"Oy, Chris! Wait!" A voice suddenly called. Chris stopped and turned to whoever had called her.

"Danny?"

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

…

"Claus, come on, just get out of there," Fuel said.

"Not until I'm sure it's safe," Claus yelled from the closet.

"Claus, Chris isn't even here," Lucas said.

"Not Chris, Richie."

"Richie?"

"She gets really jealous of me and other girls so once she finds out about this… Oh _no_, I have to find Chris," Claus said, getting out of the janitorial closet he was in.

"Why do you need to find Chris?" Fuel asked,

"I'm scared about what Richie will do to her. Richie really doesn't like me hanging out with Chris, but I told her she couldn't do anything about it. She told me if I ever showed any sign of being romantically involved with Chris, she would hunt Chris down."

"But Richie shouldn't even be saying that. _She_ broke up with _you_," Lucas said.

"I know. I told her that, too, but she just ignored it. Ok, I'm gonna try to save Chris before-"

"CLAUS!" Richie's voice echoed across the hall.

"Oh no…" Claus muttered to himself.

"Claus, is what I'm hearing true? That you think that _ugly_ new girl is _CUTE_?" Richie said angrily.

"First, don't call her that. Second, I actually really like Chris. She's really nice and, between you and me, I don't just think she's cute, she's-"

"Claus," Risk suddenly said, behind the PSI user. Claus gulped.

"R-Risk, hey, bud. How's it going?" Claus said, nervous about the two teens ganging up on him.

"What were you saying about my sister?" Risk growled.

"That… that I think she's a very intelligent person?" Richie got angry at this.

"So _I'm_ not smart enough for you?" she yelled despite his face being 5 inches away from hers.

"I think we should go somewhere else," Fuel whispered to Lucas, who simply nodded. The two fled the scene as their friend was heavily interrogated.

…

"Nana, boys are confusing," Chris suddenly said.

"I guess. Why?" Nana said.

"Well, earlier, Claus Ryuka said he thought I was cute and then later Danny Anphose… he…"

"What'd he do?"

"He asked me out on a date. I'm still confused about Claus so I told him I needed some time to think."

"Wait, who did you say that was?" Ness asked, overhearing the conversation.

"Danny Anphose," Chris repeated.

"That's not good," Ness said.

"What? Why?" Nana asked.

"Danny Anphose is a close friend of Pokey's, so I'm worried Pokey's plotting something."

Chris was actually seeing what Ness was saying until Nana intervened.

"_Or _Danny could be nice and actually want to go on a date with Chris," she said.

"Ness, Nana-chan," Chris said but was ignored.

"Are you sure because he doesn't seem that nice to me," Ness argued. Chris sighed as the two argued. She turned and saw Pippi Longstockings writing something.

"Excuse me, what are you writing?" Chris asked, curious.

"_This?_ This is my plan to get my _Ninty-kun_ all for myself and _away from that wretched Ana_," Pippi said, her mood changing the entire sentence.

"Uh… Ninty-kun?" Chris asked.

"Yeah! I've been in love with Ninten ever since he first saved me from the zombies all those years ago," Pippi said, suddenly cheerful again and giggling.

"Oh, I see…" Chris said, though not understanding at all.

"My name's Pippi."

"I'm Chris. Nice to meet you."

…

Richie was still arguing with Claus. Risk had left when Richie yelled at him that she wanted to speak privately despite the showy conversation.

"Claus, please, just _listen_ to me. Give us another chance," Richie pleaded.

"Richie, you broke up with me, remember?" Claus said.

"I know, but I realized what a fool I was to do so, Claus! Claus, I still _really, really_ like you. Please, Claus," Richie cried, tears forming in her eyes. Claus was about to answer when something caught his attention, staring at Richie but still listening to the conversation.

"Hey, hey, did you hear about Chris Poname?"

"What, about Claus?"

"No, about another guy." This caught Claus' interest.

"Who?"

"Apparantly, Danny Anphose asked her out!"

"She seems to be quite the popular one with guys, eh?"

Claus gasped inwardly. He smiled. '_So, she's going out with Danny all of a sudden, huh?_' Claus thought, the answer to Richie forming in his head.

…

Chris sat back in her chair as the memory played back in her head. She actually started considering going on the date. But first thing was first.

She needed to confront Claus.

"Before the day's end…" she muttered to herself. "I just hope he hasn't heard the rumor yet, especially since it's-"

"Chris! I heard you were asked out by Danny Anphose. Is that true?" Pippi said, going up to Chris.

"Yeah, why?"

"Doesn't he hang out with Pokey?"

"Yeah, but he seems like a really nice guy."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"Mm, I guess."

"So, Chris, do you hang out with Ninten a lot?"

"Yeah, but it's only been about two weeks since I met him, so I don't know too much about him."

"Oh, that's not important! Does he really love Oreos more than baseball?"

"Uh… I only met him _**two weeks**_ ago, Pippi. I don't know."

"Oh." Pippi sat down next to Chris. "Still, I mean, you know _Ninten_! He's like, the coolest person I know! We also live in the same town so he's _much_ more closer to me than _Ana_."

Chris groaned as she realized her position.

'_I just hope Ness, Ninten and Ana help Older Ninten. I need to rest._' Chris thought.

"Seriously, he saved me from zombies! How cool is that?" Pippi said gleefully while Chris sighed.

…

**Will Chris agree to go out with Danny? Will Claus and Richie end up back together? Will Ness save his Dad? And will Pippi keep bombarding Chris with questions about Ninten? Find out in the next exciting episode of 'Schoolbound!' *Gets shot for mocking the announcer guy from Pokémon***

**Chapter 15: Choices. (Get ready for a long one.)**

**Selected quote: "How would you ever forget meeting yourself?"**


	15. Choices

**To Mr. Anonymous: HELL YES! I APPROVE! Just, do me a favor and keep the same characters? Thank you.**

…

"Dad, these are my friends… N-Ninten and A-Ana," Ness said, nervous.

"I always wondered when this day would come," Ness' Dad said. His arms were resting behind his head as he lay down on the bed.

"So, you knew?" Ana asked.

"Of course I did, I mean we," Ninten said proudly to Ana. "How would you ever forget meeting yourself?"

"I always knew the day would come when I'd see this young couple again," Ness' dad said. He looked, needless to say, like Ninten but taller and with stubble around his mouth and chin.

"So, what should I call you?" Ninten said, pondering.

"Eh? What should you call him? Ninten, he's not some pet! He's you," Ana yelled.

"Please, just call me Mister Kenneth," Ness' Dad said.

"Blegh, Kenneth," Ninten said. He hated his real name more than hippies.

"It took me a long time to realize I'd need to use my real name again," Mr. Kenneth said.

"Real name? Ninten, you're name's Kenneth?" Ana asked, surprised.

"My name's Ninten, not Kenneth. I hate that name," Ninten said stubbornly. Mr. Kenneth laughed.

"Was I always this bad when I was little?"

"Hehe, so I'm not as reckless later in the future?" Ninten asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say that, I mean, I did get into this mess. It's because you're here, right?" Mr. Kenneth said. Ana nodded.

"We need to ask Mister Andonuts if he can help us so nothing happens to him or your… wife," Ana said, still surprised that she and Ninten had gotten married and had children.

"Mister Andonuts? You mean Jeff's dad?" Ness asked.

"Uh, yeah, Loid," Ninten said, not liking calling his best friend 'mister.' Mr. Kenneth chuckled.

"The scientist likes to call himself 'Doctor' Andonuts now. So, anyway, what are you two planning on doing? My memory's still a little fuzzy since it was such a long time ago."

"Well Ana-chan was going to use Super Healing to heal you," Ness said, resisting the urge to call Ana 'mom.'

"Wait, so even after all these years, I still have Asthma?" Ninten suddenly yelled in an outburst. Mr. Kenneth sighed.

"Yes, it seems so. It only happened because of the exhaust from the cars. My asthma's not as bad as it used to be."

"That's a relief," Ninten said, sighing.

"So you don't even care about how hurt you'll be in a number of years?" Ana yelled.

"Ana, we fought Giegue, what could possibly be worse?" Ninten said.

"Young me has a point," Mr Kenneth said.

"Eh?" Ana said, outraged.

"Hey, don't heal me just yet, kids. Ness, your mom will be coming later with Tracy. I want to remember how crazy we were when we were kids," Mr Kenneth said, laughing. Ninten and Ana stared at each other.

…

Claus sat on his bunk bed, reflecting on his decision towards Richie.

'Hmph, it's better this way. Chris is going out with Danny, so why should it matter?' Claus thought angrily. Claus sighed. "And to think I've only known her for a couple of weeks," Claus muttered to himself, scratching the back of his head.

"Who, Chris?" Lucas suddenly said from his bunk, causing Claus to jump.

"Yeah, Chris, but it's nothing for you to be concerned about," Claus responded.

"Claus, you should've seen Chris after you said… what you said. She was so confused but also so… happy," Lucas tried to explain.

"So then why'd she agree to go on some date with Pokey's friend?"

"Danny?"

"Don't say his name! He makes me sick, the things Pokey does. And to think, he's trying to get Chris involved with it! Pokey's up to something, I know it! And they want to use Chris!" Claus growled.

"… Danny."

"Agh!" Claus yelled in pain, clutching his head. "Stop… saying his name!"

"Anphose Danny."

"Lucas, I swear!"

An idea struck Lucas.

"Ok then, how about… Anphose Chris?"

"Lucas, I'll kill you!" Claus said, going to Lucas' bunk. Lucas jumped out of the way and ran out of the room.

"Lucas!" Claus yelled as he angrily chased his brother. Lucas, smiling, ran downstairs and outside his house.

"Lucas, get back here!" Claus yelled, rage consuming him. Lucas continued running into town, Claus still after him.

"Lucas finally reached where he wanted to be. He turned around and saw Claus still chasing him. Lucas stepped away from his spot, revealing a name that stopped Claus dead in his tracks.

"Poname… Household?" Claus read, his eyes wide. _'Chris' house?_'He thought.

Lucas swiftly opened the door as Fuel, hiding in the shadows, pushed Claus in.

"Hey, let me out! Lucas, what are you trying to do?" Claus yelled, banging on the door that Lucas and Fuel held with al their might. Claus growled and suddenly realized something. Claus turned and saw Chris' shocked parents.

"I-I'm so sorry for barging in! My brother and friend, they threw me in here," Claus said frantically.

"Don't worry, we know," Chris' mom suddenly said.

"You… know?"

"Lucas came here after school explaining that he had a plan to get you and my daughter to talk," Chris' father said. Claus stared at them.

'_Those bastards_,' Claus thought.

"Is there another way I can get out? I don't mean to be rude but I really don't want to speak to your daughter at the moment," Claus asked, showing his polite side.

"Of course. We understand," Mrs. Poname said. She led Claus to a back door when something happened.

"Claus? What are you doing here?" Chris asked. She was with Risk and they were both shocked at Claus' appearance.

"A-Ah, Chris, I was just leaving," Claus said, trying his best to leave.

"Wait," Chris said. Claus froze. "We need to talk, Claus."

"About what? What could we possibly have to talk about?" Claus said, still thinking of a way to leave.

"About… Anphose." Claus froze again. He clenched his fist at the name. "Please."

…

"Wow, who would've thought how… small we were when we were young," Mrs. Kenneth said. Ana and Ninten sweat dropped at this. Mrs. Kenneth still had all the beauty of Ana from when she was young.

"So you're me in the future?" Ana asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say 'future,'" Mrs. Kenneth said with a small laugh.

"Ana… Who would've thought of how hot you'd be in the future?" Ninten said. He had struck a nerve. Ana suddenly pulled out a skillet and started beating Ninten with it.

"What do you mean 'hot'? I'm not hot now?" Ana yelled.

"Aah! No, I just meant how much hotter you'd become! Oww! Where'd you even get that skillet from?" Mrs. Kenneth sweat dropped.

"So, Ness, now do you believe me from when I told you how violent I was in my youth?" Mrs. Kenneth said to her son.

"I… I didn't think you'd be that violent to Dad, Mom," Ness said, still staring at Ana and Ninten, who was still getting beaten. Mr. Kenneth laughed.

"Mommy, you were really pretty when you were young," Tracy said.

"Thank you, sweetie." Mrs. Kenneth said to her 9-year-old daughter.

"Hey, Ana, remember that time when I said Snowman was going to be outclassed by another snowy place and you didn't believe me?" he said,

"Nope." Mr. Kenneth stared in disbelief.

"But, you remember that! Loid was there too! Don't tell me you still can't remember!"

"Nope," Mrs. Kenneth repeated, her arms crossed.

"Yes you do, Ana! I even rubbed it in your face when we found out about Winters!"

"Well T-O-O B-A-D, I can't remember," Mrs. Kenneth said with a smile. Ana suddenly stopped beating a now unconscious Ninten and giggled.

"I like that, T-O-O B-A-D," she said, smiling. Mrs. Kenneth smiled back at her.

"So, should we get started on that healing?" Mr. Kenneth said, coughing.

"Sure, but first we should use it on Ninten," Ness said, pointing to the unconscious boy being fanned by Tracy. The Kenneth couple sweat dropped.

…

"So, why do you want to talk about… who was it again?" Claus asked. He and Chris were sitting inside Chris and Risk's shared room while Risk sat outside by the doorway.

"Danny Anphose." Chris said looking down. Claus stared the other way. "Surely, you've heard the rumor?"

"…Yes, I did," Claus said, trying to remain calm.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about it. You se-"

"You know, Chris, there's really nothing to talk about. If you don't like me, you could've said it to my face," Claus said, staring at the girl with hatred.

"What?" Chris asked, alarmed.

"Yeah, I mean, you accepted it right? Even after I almost told you…" Claus stopped midsentence to avoid the mistake again.

"No, I didn't accept Danny's offer! I don't even know him that well!"

"Well, all you need to know is that he's cruel," Claus said sharply.

"Cruel? He seemed really nice when I talked to him!"

"Chris…. You _idiot_," Claus said, insulting the girl for the first time.

"What did you say?"

"You idiot. He's just using you for whatever Pokey might be plotting!"

"_I'm_ an idiot? The only idiot is _you_, Claus."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Not as ridiculous as you! I heard what happened between you and Richie!" Claus froze.

"… What are you talking about?" he said in a low voice.

"I know you and Richie dated last year and broke a few months later, and that you couldn't get over her."

"Who told you this? How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that _you still love her_! You… you _never_ got over her, Claus…" By this point, tears were starting to flow from Chris' eyes. "You know something, I really believed that you _liked_ me, and I was going to turn Danny's offer down, but now… now I see that he's more of a man than you'll ever be, Claus! Get out, I'm done with you! And I hope you're happy with Richie, but I swear to God, when she dumps you, don't even _think_ about crawling back to me!"

"… Is that all you have to say?" Claus asked darkly.

"Yes… now, do me a favor and get out," Chris said, unable to control the tears now. Claus cast one last dark look at her before leaving and slamming the door. Chris sat down on her bed and continued crying.

…

"Ana, Ninten… how can I ever thank you?" Ness asked.

"You can start by paying me," Ninten suddenly said.

"What? But… but you're my father! I'm not gonna pay you!"

"Fine then, I'll make sure Ana never make's you steak again."

"You monster," Ness said in disbelief.

"Like you said, I'm your father, and don't call your father a monster," Ninten said, patting poor Ness' head. Ana laughed.

"I'm glad we could help, Ness," Ana said. She leaned closer to Ness, whispering in his ear "Don't worry, I'll make you lots of steak, ok?"

"Th-thank you," Ness said, hugging her. Ana nervously hugged back.

Ninten's cell phone suddenly started ringing.

"Hey, guys hold on a second, I've got a call from Lucas." Ninten said, answering the phone.

"Yo… Wait, what did he do? …Why would Claus do that? …Ugh, that bastard really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. Ok… ok, yeah, I'll get him tomorrow. Ok, ok, bye. Yeah, I'll tell Ana. Alright, bye Lucas," Ninten said sighing and hanging up the phone.

"What happened?" Ness asked.

"Claus… he yelled at Chris, saying that she's an idiot for being asked out by Danny, or something."

"What? Why would Claus do that?" Ana asked.

"I don't know, but he's gonna pay like hell tomorrow at school."

…

"_Claus, I promise, you won't regret this,"_ Richie's voice echoed in his mind. _"I'll make sure our relationship never ends! We're meant to be together, I know it!"_Claus sighed.

"How can you be so sure, Rich?" Claus muttered to himself as Chris' words from the previous night echoed in his head. _"Get out, I'm done with you! And I hope you're happy with Richie, but I swear to God, when she dumps you, don't even _think_ about crawling back to me!" _Claus sighed again.

"… Will I ever get a decent girl? One that's not crazy like Richie and one that's not as foolish as Chris?"

"Hey, Claus," Ninten's voice said from behind him. Claus turned and saw his friend.

"Oh, hey Ninten! So how'd it go with-" Claus was cut off when Ninten suddenly punched him straight in the face. Claus spit out the blood from his mouth and coughed.

"Ggh… Ninten, what the hell was that for?" Claus yelled. Ninten didn't say anything, he just went up to Claus, grabbed the boy's hair and landed another blow in Claus' stomach.

"Ninten!" Claus said in a raspy voice.

"That was for Chris," Ninten said darkly, tossing the boy to the floor.

'_Chris? So he heard, huh_?' Claus thought. '_The whiny girl probably told everyone I yelled at her for no reason whatsoever. Ness should at least understand_.' Claus grabbed his sides and got on his knees. "All I'm trying to do is look out for her, she's just being insensitive," Claus muttered to himself, finally standing up.

…

"Chris, I heard you blamed my boyfriend for something that he didn't do, is that right?" Richie said.

"Where'd you hear that?" Chris asked. They were currently in their P.E. class, outside on the field.

"Yeah, you're trying to make him seem like the bad guy when all he was trying to do was help you! Honestly, I don't know why he puts up with you. You're just a selfish little slu-" Richie was cut off when she was kicked in the knee. "Aah! Wha… Pippi, what are you doing?"

"Chris had her reasons, Claus wouldn't listen to her. Your boyfriend is actually the selfish one," Pippi said, shaking off her leg.

"Don't you dare say that about him," Richie said, charging towards Pippi, who quickly jumped into the air and kicked Richie in the face.

"Hmph, I don't see why you bother picking up a fight when you can't even fight."

"Pippi…" Chris said. She only just met the girl, but already she was helping her.

"Grr, Angie, Dina, back me up," Richie ordered as two girls appeared, going to Richie's side. Chris and Nana quickly ran up to Pippi.

"Pippi, thank you. If we win, I'll convince Ninten to go on a date with you," Chris said. Pippi gasped happily.

"Really, Chris? Thank you."

"Yeah. Let's just get this over with."

'_Remember, don't use your PSI,' _Chris told herself_. 'No matter how much she aggravates you, control. You weren't given these gifts for carelessness.'_

"Fight!" some of the girls yelled. Nana was facing Dina, Pippi was fighting Angie, and Chris was going against Richie.

"Let's get this over with. I have to get ready for a date," Pippi said. Richie and her friends charged toward Chris and the others. Pippi jumped out of the way, Chris dodged an easy punch, and Nana punched back.

**Pippi vs Angie**

"You're too slow," Pippi said, appearing behind Angie and pulling her hair, swinging her to the ground.

"Aah!" Angie yelled as she made contact with the cement.

"Not bad, but not good enough!" Angie rushed toward Pippi, grabbing Pippi's leg as she tried to jump again. Angie pulled Pippi to the ground and kicked the girl in the stomach. Pippi swiftly rolled and avoided another kick. Getting back on her feet, Pippi grabbed some rocks from the ground and started throwing them at Angie.

"Aah! Not fair!"

"Hey, little girl, don't you know? There's no such thing as 'fair', especially in a fight. Hehe!" Pippi climbed into a tree and jumped off, landing right on top of Angie.

"Agh! Aaah, ahh, please, stop!" Angie begged, unable to continue.

"Hmm, weak," Pippi said, running to help Nana.

**Nana vs Dina**

"Hey, aren't you the freak that everyone hates?" Dina teased**.**

"Not everyone hates me, and it's simply because I talk a lot," Nana said, forming a plan. "For example-" Nana said, landing a kick. "If one were to say that I-" Nana dodged a punch and twisted the girl's arm around her back.

"Aah!" Dina cried out.

"Spoke for quite a long time-"

Nana threw the girl into a nearby tree, which Pippi seemed to be climbing for an attack on Angie.

"They'd be quite right. You see-"

Nana got punched by Dina. "Stop talking already," Dina yelled. Nana just chuckled.

"Like I was saying, I just can't help-"

Nana dodged all of Dina's throws.

"But talk, and talk, and talk-"

Nana grabbed hold of Dina's arms and dragged her to her knees. Nana put her head right by Nana's head.

"And keep talking until a person either leaves or gets so annoyed that they Run away. So, it looks like I'll be doing that to you."

Pippi ran up to Nana.

"Need any help?" Pippi asked.

"Hold her down," Nana said. Pippi stepped on Dina's back, refraining Dina from moving.

"You see, I've done this ever since I was a little girl, the funny thing being so people would notice me," Nana started rambling. Dina cringed.

"There was only one boy in the entire village that listened to what I had to say. His name was Lucas. You know Lucas Ryuka, right? The blonde twin with the striped shirt? Well, he listened to me, so I was really grateful. His brother said I was weird, but Lucas didn't mind. We'd talk a lot during the summer-"

"Stop already," Dina yelled.

"Aww, but I'm not done with my story yet," Nana said, disappointed. Pippi and Nana suddenly heard a loud scream.

**Chris vs Richie**

"Who do you think you are, insulting my future husband like that?" Richie said, throwing punches. Chris dodged them each time with ease.

"Future husband? Honey, you have some high expectations if you expect that boy to marry you," Chris said casually as she dodged the punches.

"Claus loves me! I know he does," Richie tried to kick, but she still missed.

"Well, maybe you just think he loves you since he simply decided to give your relationship one last try. Honestly, I think he just likes you, there's no love."

"You-" Richie tried grabbing Chris' hair, but Chris successfully dodged again.

"Danm it, why can't I hit you?"

"That answer's personal," Chris said quietly.

"Huh?" Richie said when Chris swung around andhit Richie in the back of the head.

"Aah! What'd you do that for?" Richie cried, grabbing her head. Chris didn't care. Shestuck her leg out, causing Riche to trip and fall to the ground. Chris dragged the girl by her feet.

"H-Hey, what are you doing?"

"You're way too into your head," is all Chris said after she stopped dragging the girl, but as soon as she let go of Richie, Richie tripped Chris, got on top of her (A/N: Go away, pervs!), and started punching. Chris grabbed one of Richie's wrists, but Richie punched again, causing Chris to let go. Chris tried to grab both of Richie's wrists, succeeded, and threw Richie off.

She was about to do what Richie had done when suddenly someone grabbed her hair from the roots and yanked her off the floor. Chris screamed loudly.

"Young lady, what on earth do you think you're doing?" The P.E. coach yelled.

"Nn, you don't understand! She started it," Chris pleaded.

"Oh, you really expect me to believe you over my dear niece?" The coach barked.

'_Niece?_' Chris thought, doing her best to ignore the pain.

"Au-Auntie, she attacked me for no reason," Richie said with fake tears. "Why would anyone do that to me, Auntie?" Richie said with more tears, sneaking a devious glance at Chris.

"I don't know, Richie, but this girl is going to pay!"

"Y-you should expel her, Auntie," Richie begged. Chris' eyes widened. Nana and Pippi gasped.

"Please, I know she's your niece, but she attacked Chris first," Nana said.

"Liar, you're simply trying to defend this girl!" The coach said, shaking Chris, who still had her hair being pulled.

"P-Please, I'm not lying!" Chris said, literally fighting back tears.

"Can it, you! You're coming with me," the coach said, dragging Chris away.

"What? No! Please, you have to understand," Chris pleaded as she was taken to the principal's office.

…

**Claus… Richie… you RAT BASTARDS! Why, I oughtta break you two up RIGHT NOW. Also, I only called Older Ninten and Ana the Kenneth's because Kenneth is Ninten's real name. Yeah… If you guys have a better last name for Ness, please let me know. This was originally supposed to be two separate chapters but I decided to bunch it together. Also, the poll's already closed. It got three votes for yes, and NOW LOOK WHAT YOU PEOPLE HAVE DONE! I need to work on the next chapter. And I might make a bew poll about the new name for SB's sequel. Yeah, there's gonna be a sequel to this.**

**Review. It makes this story live.**


	16. Conflict

"… Guys, I'm sorry for dragging you two into this," Chris said apologetically to Pippi and Nana.

"No need to apologize, Chris. You're our friend, so it's only natural to help," Nana said.

"…Nana, thank you so much," Chris said. A memory played in her head, causing pain in Chris' eyes. She smiled sadly. "Nana, you remind me _so much_ of-"

"Chris Poname, the principal wants to see you," the VP said.

"Oh… right," Chris said, standing up and going into the principal's office.

"So… Chris Poname, what are you in here for today?"

"I know this may sound weird, but _please_ don't listen to a word that coach says. Richie is her niece, so she's going to stick up for her and say I attacked Richie for no reason," Chris said immediately.

"Well, where there any witnesses?"

"Yes, Nana and Pippi outside can tell you. Also Janet Garcia and Stephanie Rulen. They saw what happened."

"Ok, I'll bring them in. But first, tell me your side of the story."

"Yes ma'am… actually, it's kind of… personal."

"You can trust me. I used to be a guidance counselor before I became principal."

"Really?"

"Yes. So, your story?"

Chris told the principal everything. About how she liked Claus, her fight with him, Richie's jealousy, and Richie's attack on her and her friends and the coach's accusations. Of course, she left out some '_minor'_ details. The principal simply stared at Chris with a stern look.

"Ah, I get it," the principal finally said when Chris finished her story.

"You… you do?"

"Yes. And, I'll call Claus in to hear what he has to say about this as well as those other students you mentioned."

"_Arigatou gozaimasu_," Chris said quietly as she exited the office.

"My, my, it's going to be an interesting day, eh?" the principal said to herself, wiping her glasses. She laughed to herself. "Let's see how interesting these kids are," the woman said, putting her glasses back on and calling her assistant.

…

Lucas watched as Chris and Nana returned to class.

"That woman is strange," Chris muttered.

"Who?" Lucas asked.

"Lucas, Chris, have anything to share with the rest of the class?" the teacher asked.

"Ah, no Mr. Hintingmen."

"Good. If I hear any more talking, you children will be sent straight to the principal's office."

"We understand," Lucas and Chris said unanimously.

…

"So, by dividing the equation into-" the lecture was interrupted when someone had come in and slammed the door, waking Claus up.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but I have a summons for Claus Ryuka," the boy said. Claus squinted to tell who it was, and when he realized who he was, Claus' blood started to boil.

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Anphose. Mr. Ryuka? _Mr. Ryuka_!"

"I heard you the first time," Claus said, getting up from his desk and resisting the urge to call the teacher "_grandpa_" or "_old man_".

"Oh? It says you have to go to the principal's office. What'd you do this time?" The teacher said with a wicked laugh

"I think that's none of your business," Claus aid harshly, taking the summons. He actually didn't know what it was for, either. He glared at Danny before gathering his things and leaving. Claus was upset to see that he and Danny were walking the same path. Danny also noticed it, and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Claus asked bitterly.

"Nothing. Just… thinking about a girl."

"Oh," Claus said, doing anything to end the conversation before anything came up about him or his friends.

"So, I heard you called _my girl_ really cute. Is that true?" Danny asked as they continued walking.

"'_Your girl?'_ I'm not sure who you're talking about," Claus said, knowing exactly who Danny was talking about.

"Ah, you know, Claus. That stunning girl with the black hair."

"Testing my nerves, are you? Well, it's not gonna work. I have a girlfriend now."

"Oh, that's right. Richie, was it? Well, I heard you only took her back out of pity."

Claus growled.

"I took her back because I really like her," Claus said, getting angry.

"Come on, Claus, we both know that's not why."

Danny stopped walking when the two reached a staircase. Danny turned back and stared at Claus.

"What, did you forget where you were going?" Claus asked.

"Heh, come on, Santy Claus, the only reason you took that girl back was because you were jealous of me and Chris becoming a couple." Claus gasped and looked away.

"Ha, so I was right. Well, Claus, how would you like to know what my real intentions are? I know you're smart enough to realize it's not just a date."

"So, I was also right. Tell me, Danny," Claus said, the name leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Ah, that's for me to know and you to find ou-" Claus suddenly pinned Danny to the lockers, growling.

"If you do _anything_ to hurt her, I'll-"

"I thought you didn't _care_, Claus. I thought you had a _girlfriend_," Danny said, a mischievous look in his eye. Claus' eyes widened with each word.

"Danny, I'm looking out for her as a _friend_, nothing more. Friends look out for each other. Remember that." Claus let go of Danny and walked quickly upstairs before Danny could catch up to him.

…

"Ok, thank you, Janet. You can leave."

"Thank you, Principal."

Janet left the room as the principal sighed.

"So, Chris, Nana, and Pippi's stories are accurate. As for Richie and Coach Manger…" the Principal sighed again and combed her fingers through her hair.

"Richie will get suspended, and the coach will be fired for physical harm towards the students." She decided. The Principal suddenly slammed her hands on the desk and put on a smile.

"All right. All that's left is Claus Ryuka and to finally find out what those kids are hiding… Yes, what were their names? Ninten, Loid, Ana, the three who caused the merging, Ness, Paula, Jess and Poo, the supposed '_Chosen Four'_, and Lucas and Claus, the two twin brothers whose lives suffered because of Pokey Minch… Yes, that seems right. Those kids can't hide their secrets forever."

"Principal? Claus Ryuka is here," an assistant said.

"Ah, thank you. Send him in." Claus walked into the office and sat down in the chair opposite of the Principal.

"Hello, Claus Ryuka," the principal said.

"Um, if I may ask, what exactly am I here, for?"

"Well, first, I'd like to ask if you know anything about the fight between Richie Tamboish and Chris Poname."

"Fight? Those two got into a fight?" Claus asked.

"Yes. Apparently it was about you."

"Uh, I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job or anything, but isn't this something the guidance counselor should deal with?"

There was a long pause. Finally, the principal spoke.

"No."

"…No? Why not?"

"Miss Tamboish's aunt works in the facility. She's demanded that Miss Poname be expelled."

"_Expelled_?"

"Are you going to repeat everything I say?" the principal asked with a laugh.

"Now, Mister Ryuka, I want you to tell me everything about your relationship with these girls."

"Re-relationship? I-I mean, I _am_ dating Richie, b-but it's not like I have any _spe_-_special_ relationship with C-Chris," Claus said, flustered.

"Mister Ryuka, do not _lie_ to me. Tell me everything you know about her."

**Claus' eyes widened. '**_**What's her game**_**?' he thought. '**_**What does she need to know about? Unless…**_**' **

(A/N: At this time, I would like to ask you to go to youtube and search 'Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST 3 - Trisha's Lullaby -A Reminiscence-, click the third link and play it.)

"I know about your kids' PSI."

Claus gasped.

"Wha-? How do you-?"

"Anyone who possesses PSI knows when another person can use PSI," the principal said, whispering something and causing a small flame to appear above her finger. Claus gasped again.

"Y-you can… _use_ it?"

The principal diminished the flame and stared at Claus seriously.

"I must ask you not to tell any of the other students or faculty members about this. They might consider me… able to use the devil's work."

Claus just stared, thinking about what to do.

"Now, about Miss Poname?"

…

The bell had rung for class to end. Chris looked for her brother.

"Ah, Risk, there you are," the girl said to herself. She ran up to her twin, hitting his back.

"Aah! Hey, what'd you do that for?" Risk asked. His glasses were still on, so Chris guessed that the teacher had worked them to the bell.

"Sorry. I just tried to get your attention."

"Ah, whatever. Hey, hold my glasses, will you?" Risk asked, handing the glasses to her. He moved his backpack to get the case, took the glasses back from his sister and put the glasses case away.

"Thanks, sis." Chris nodded.

"… Hey, Chris, it seems Claus gave you a hard time yesterday, right?"

"Risk, you were there, so of course."

"Actually, I went downstairs to get some food when Claus stormed out of the house."

"Oh. That's right, you never came back in."

"You cried yourself to sleep not too long after Claus left.

"Oh… yeah, and I was too busy thinking about that in the morning to hear what you, Mom or Dad were saying. Speaking of which, I heard Ness got his Dad better. The doctors were shocked at his sudden recovery."

"I heard that, too, but Chris, please don't change the subject."

"… As you wish, younger brother."

"So what happened?"

Chris hesitated, but eventually told her brother about what happened.

"… I should beat him up for you," Risk said angrily. The two were out by some trees before deciding to go to the boat. It made runs for students who had afterschool activities such as clubs or detention.

"There's no need for that."

"Chris, he's made a fool of you."

"Yes, he's done that but… It was better to know now that he was a bad choice than later."

"…Chris… If that's your choice, I'm content with it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah… something else is on your mind, isn't there?"

"Yeah…."

"What's it about?"

"The principal. Something's strange about her. Very strange… very…"

"How so?"

"There's an unusual amount of energy coming from her, as if she's not human. It reminds me of… that man."

"It seems like so long ago."

"Mom and Dad sure weren't happy when we told them about his time having passed," Chris said with a sad smile.

"No…. it was simply out of self defense, but his family… They were so angry. The rest of the town too."

"If only we had never learned it…"

"… Well, don't say that, Chris. If we never learned it, we wouldn't be surrounded by the friends we have today."

"I don't know if all of them are friends," Chris muttered, thinking about Claus.

"Don't worry, I heard Ninten gave him a beating earlier today."

"Did he? That's kind of him. But I feel bad for Claus. I understand why he was saying those things, but it was too much."

"You shouldn't feel pity towards someone who's hurt you."

"Risk… you always know what to say, huh?"

"Well, sister, like they say, 'no one knows you better than your twin.'"

"I guess so. Let's head back, yeah?" Chris said, standing up.

"The sun's starting to set. Mom and Dad will be worried," Risk said, also standing up. "Oh, and I'll try to see what I can find out about the principal"

"What?"

"Yeah, see what's up with her. I also found out about that man's plans, didn't I?"

"Yeah, I was so shocked when I found out."

"Well, let's go home."

"Right."

(Song ends here)

…

"Claus, I have no idea what's going on through your head," Lucas yelled. He and Claus were in their room while something seemed to be bugging Claus. Lucas wanted to know what it was.

"Why do you want to know?" Claus asked.

"Because we're brothers, we've been together for so long. I have a right to know what you're thinking."

"Yeah, I guess that's true, but I need space, you know?"

"But"

"Lucas, leave me alone for a few minutes, will ya?"

"Claus…"

Lucas stared at Claus, whose hands were shaking.

"Claus… what's wrong? You can tell me."

"Nothing, damn you! Can't I do my homework in peace?" Claus yelled, anger in his eyes.

"Claus!" Lucas yelled. Claus flinched. Lucas never got this angry in front of him. "Don't bottle up your feelings, and don't lie, especially to me! I'm your brother, so tell em what's wrong! Now, Claus!"

"Fine, do you want to know what's wrong? He was right, ok? He was right," Claus said, falling to his knees.

"Who was right?"

Claus clenched his fists.

"That piece of shit Anphose."

"Danny? What'd he do?"

"He… he's planning something with Pokey. He told me himself. I need to know what's wrong. Pokey said he had a deal to make with Risk and Chris, and what if they refused? Pokey could try to force them to do whatever it is."

"He even told you he was planning something?" Lucas asked, getting alarmed.

"Yeah…"

"W-well, what do mean he was right?"

Claus stood up and stared at Lucas.

"He asked me if…"

"If what?"

Claus sat there for a second before suddenly closing the doors and windows and turning the lights off. Claus peered between the blinds.

"What… are you doing?"

"Checking of anyones watching."

"Watching?"

"Forget it."

"So, what were you saying?"

"He asked me if… if…"

"If…?"

"If I… had feelings for… Chris."

"Well, Claus, who doesn't know that?"

"Why you-"

"Hey, I'm just saying. But I want to know why Danny's interfering with this."

"Who cares? All I know is that if you tell ANYONE about this, I'll tell everyone about how you still wet the bed.

"Wha-? I don't do that!"

"Ah, come on, Luka, yes you do!"

"Well, maybe sometimes, b-but not-"

"See? You admit it!"

"No! I mean not as much when I was little!"

"Ah, Lucas, you're my little brother, so you'll always be little in my eyes."

"C-Claus!" Lucas punched Claus straight in the jaw.

…

ANOTHER LONG CONFUSING CHAPTER! :D The whole reason for all the ass kicking and drama and such is b/c I've been watching Fullmetal Alchemist all week so yeah… :U

We'ree getting further into the story! And the principal's being SUPAH CREAPPY!

Guys, if you don't review, at least vote in the poll. I can't finish the story until I decide of a name.

Review. It'll make Claus SMART and Pokey even fatter! :D


	17. Running out of name ideas

**Wow, I haven't updated this in quite some time, huh? Sorry guys. As hard as it is to believe… I have a life. I know, it's crazy! (Note: This chapter is the start of a more very long chapters, be warned!)**

…

"Hey, Duster, open up," Kumatora said, knocking on the door.

"In a minute," Duster called. Kumatora growled and kicked the door down.

"KUMATORA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Duster called from a pile of boxes.

"It took me a while to get here from Osohe castle, so I really don't want to spend my time waiting outside."

"It's not that far!"

"Well, it's far for me," Kumatora said, walking over to Duster.

"Maybe you're just…" Duster stopped when he remembered the pain from Kumatora's punch.

"Just what, Duster?" Kumatora suddenly asked menacingly.

"J-j-j-j-just… you're just…"

"Answer me, Duster!" Kumatora suddenly roared, flames in her eyes.

"Just spoiled!" Duster suddenly blurted out of fear.

"Wha-?" Kumatora growled. Duster closed his eyes as tight as possible to help repress the pain, but Kumatora never punched him.

"Kuma… tora?"

"What?"

"Are you ok? You haven't punched me yet."

"You WANT me to punch you?"

"No, no!"

"Then don't worry. I'm just… trying to be… n-nice," Kumatora said, blushing.

"Nice? Why?"

"I'LL PUNCH YOU IF YOU DON'T STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!"

"SORRY!"

Duster was hiding behind his couch while Kumatora sighed.

"So, we gonna find that wig or what?"

"Uh, right, right." Duster said, clearing his throat and grabbing one of the boxes.

"What's with these, anyway?"  
"I know I put one of my wigs in here. I pulled all these out from my basement."

"No wonder there's so much dust," Kumatora commented, brushing some dust off a box and digging through it.

"Haha, so much dust."

Kumatora stared at Duster before suddenly chuckling.

"What?"

"I get it, so much dust and you're nickname's Dust."

Duster started at the laughing princess, who in turn also started laughing. The two laughed for a few minutes longer until they finally stopped to breathe.

"Wow, Kuma, laughing at a joke you made."

"Hey! I'm still ready to punch you!"

"Sorry. It just kind of makes me wonder if you do have a crush on me," Duster said, knowing Kumatora was definitely going to punch him. He didn't know why he kept pushing her buttons, he just felt the need to get closer to her Kumatora sighed.

"Duster, you ask too many questions."

The two continued to look while Kumatora wondered why Duster and Wess had these strange things. Kumatora even twitched when she opened a box to several cicadas.

"Geez, when the cicadas cry, all hell is about to break loose," Kumatora said, closing the box.

Duster laughed. "Well, that's the cicadas for you," he said.

"Why do you have all this junk, anyway?"

"Uh… I'm not all too sure, but my dad said it was for something important."

"What could be so important you'd need bugs?"

"I dunno. Old Man Wess is crazy."

"What did you say about me, Duster?" Wess' voice suddenly yelled.

"W-Wess- I mean, Dad! What are you doing here?"

"You moron! I live here, so of course I'm here! Huh?" Wess suddenly realized Kumatora was watching. "Princess, what are you doing here?"

"Don't call me a princess," Kumatora said sternly. "I'm here to help Duster look for something."

"You should look for the moron's brain!"

"You really shouldn't be calling your own son a moron."

"I can do whatever I want. Besides, how do you two even know each other?"

"It was some time ago. We met at school, that's all," Kumatora said.

"How do you know her, Dad?" Duster asked.

"That's none of your business, moron!"

A vein popped in Duster's head.

"I have a right to know!" Duster said, talking back to Duster.

"Well, you're still not going to hear it from these lips. Say, princess, you've been searching for a long time now. Why don't you take a break while I get you something to eat? Duster will continue to work."

Duster stood, completely shocked.

"Well, if you insist," Kumatora said, causing Duster to get even more angry. Eventually, he was left looking by himself.

…

"Thank goodness it's Friday," Ana said. She sat on her room floor, needing to leave soon to find Dr Andonuts. She was glad Jeff and his father lived in a snowy place so the temperature would be comfortable to her.

"Might as well cook something to eat," Ana said, standing up and going to her kitchen.

"Ana, what are you doing?" her father asked.

"Huh? I'm just making myself something to eat," she said, pulling out a frying pan.

"Oh, ok. So, are you going to figure out how to fix the time damage?" her father asked. Ninten, Loid, and Ana decided it was best to tell their parents what was happening.

"Yes, my friend Jeff is going to call me later when his dad gets home. Also, as it turns out, Dr. Andonuts is actually Loid."

"You don't say?"

"Yeah, well, I better hurry up and eat something," Ana said. After she finished eating, Ana talked to Ninten telepathically.

"Hey, Ninten, do you know if Jeff's dad's back yet?"

"What? Ana, we're already here," Ninten said.

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, I tried to tell you, but you didn't hear me."

"Ohh, that must've been when I was talking to my dad. Ok, I'll be there right now."

Ana grabbed a jacket just in case and teleported to Winters.

"Oh, this is really warm," Ana said, the temperature hotter than Snowman. "Where is Ninten…?"

"Ana, over here," Loid called, waving from a small house.

"Loid, thank goodness, I came to the right place."

"What?"

"I was worried I might've teleported somewhere else."

"Oh… Ah, Ana, I wonder what my future self will look like. I'll probably have a beautiful wife and be tall and handsome," Loid said, his eyes glowing with wonder.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Ana said. They eventually knocked on the door.

"Hey, Ana, about time you're here. I thought Loid was going to die out there in the snow."

"Die? It's not even close to cold."

"Wha-? Oh, whatever, where's Jeff?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Dr. Andonuts had to go drop something off at his lab, so Jeff went to make sure he doesn't get lost in his experiments."

"Oh… so it looks like we're waiting, huh?"

The three kids discussed their plans for the time machine and how much time would be needed until it would be ready when Jeff and Dr. Andonuts came. Loid stared at his future self.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Loid yelled, crying. "I… I'm so FAT and BALD!"

"Hey! You're talking to your older self, you know," Dr. Andonuts said, taking a bite out of a donut.

"Wow, Loid…" Ana said, staring at Dr. Andonuts.

"I don't know what to say but MAN, I have a better life than you," Ninten said, also staring at Dr. Andonuts.

"I'm not fat! This coat's just really… bulky," Dr. Andonuts said, putting his arms over the coat.

"Sure, sure, look, man, I don't want to be rude or anything like that, but we really need your help with a problem of ours," Ninten said.

"What problem?"

Ana Ninten and Loid explained their situation again to Dr. Andonuts.

"That's… a rather interesting case. You used PSI and somehow caused the time differences to join?"

"I know it's a bit hard to understand, but please believe us," Ana said.

"…I believe you, besides, I've felt like strange new memories have come into me," Dr. Andonuts said.

"Ok, so what should we do about the time machine?" Loid asked.

"Well, first, Ninten, if you don't mind, I'd like to run some tests on you to discover what went wrong with your PSI."

"Oh, sure, but, can it wait until next week? There's a DCMC concert tomorrow night."

…

"Ok, so I'll tell Chris?" Nana asked.

"Yeah, I need her to be there," Lucas said. He was nervous, and it was better to have someone who also had never gone on a date before. The two were planning the date for the next evening while in an afterschool club.

"Ok, I'm really glad you found a way to get those two to talk again. You're really smart, Lucas."

Lucas blushed and chuckled nervously.

"A-Actually, it was Claus who thought of it, so he's the real mastermind behind it. But, remember, Chris can't know anything about it."

"What are you guys talking about?" Tony asked, randomly butting into the conversation.

"We're trying to get Claus and Chris to talk again," Lucas said, knowing he could trust Tony.

"Oh, yeah, Jeff told me those two got into a nasty fight. Actually, I'm glad Chris did what she did, people have stopped talking about me being…. Yeah."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, Chris told me something that Danny had told her."

"What was it?" Nana asked.

"Well…"

(A/N: Story time, kiddies! Get ready to want to beat the crap out of Pokey even more!)

…

"_What is it?" Chris asked._

"_Wait," Danny said, leading her into an empty classroom._

"_Danny?"_

"_Look, I know me and my friends tend to bully you and your friends a lot, but I want to help you."_

"…_What?"_

"_I know people are still talking about Tony and Jeff, and I know you and some of your friends are trying to stop."_

"_How am I supposed to believe you? Weren't you the one who started the rumors?"_

"_W-Well…" Danny started to stutter._

"_You're probably just doing this because of Pokey, aren't you?" Chris accused the boy._

"_Ah, wait, wait! You have it all wrong!"_

"_Do I?"_

"_Yeah! Listen, Pokey told me to do something I can't really remember, but he said if I wanted to help him time travel, to do this."_

"_Time… travel?"_

"_Yeah, Pokey said he'd find a way to time travel, and do you know how cool time travel can be?"_

"…_Danny, why are you even friends with Pokey?"_

"_Well, he said he was going to do something for the better, and he wanted help. He came up to me, Alex and Carlos and asked us if he wanted to help. We were young, so we didn't think about it too much. _

"_I can't remember too well, but he took me, Alex and Carlos to this place once, where he had a bunch of scientists, and he asked us if we wanted to help test something out."_

"_Wait… how long ago was this?"_

"_About two years ago, a little before Ness defeated Giygas."_

"_O-oh, well, what'd he test you on?"_

"_I… can't remember that well, I actually only remembered it in a dream I had. I know it was real because I kind of remember."_

"_I'm kind of confused."_

_Danny laughed nervously._

"_Sorry, but… hold on, let me think."_

"_Hm, fine," Chris said, crossing her arms. She as starting to wonder when the darn bell for lunch would ring. Suddenly, Danny fell to his knees._

"_Danny?"_

"_That… Pokey…"_

"_Danny, are you ok?"_

"_I… remember…"_

"_Danny?" Chris bent down to be at eye level and put her hands over Danny's._

"_What happened?" she asked. Danny, shaking, looked up at her for a few seconds before hugging her. Chris, taken aback, hugged him as well._

"_He brainwashed us. He actually put those memories into us, that he was good," Danny whispered into Chris' ear, continuing to shake. Chris gasped lightly._

"_Brainwashed?"_

"_Yeah… and… he wants to do that to you, too…"_

"_Wha-what?"_

"_He thinks you and Risk have some special power called… PSI or something, I don't know what it is, but since you two don't know how evil he is, he's going to use you for that power."_

"… _That's… why would he think we would have that power?" Chris said, doing her best to protect herself and her brother._

"_I don't know, but he said something was strange about that Tazmily place. It's been here forever, but it's so uncommon He said, he said he wants to change it and that he needed me to help. We thought that it would be better, and we trusted us, but he… he lied."_

"_So… now he wants to use me and my brother to do something to Tazmily?"_

"_Yes," Danny finally whispered. He let go of Chris and stared at her, his face dark._

"_He said something about some needles or something causing Tazmily to be the way that it is or something like that, and that people with the special PSI ability can unlock it to make Tazmily more like Eageland."_

"_Pokey… what's the matter with him? The whole reason my family moved here was to become more civilized and understand that we shouldn't need those material things… and Pokey's going to change all that?"_

"_He's sick, but listen, he told me that on my date with you- I mean, if you want to go on the date- to take you there and brainwash you, but I can't do that, and I know your friends wouldn't believe me, no matter what we said, so listen, I'll take you there, and we'll try to get the damn brainwashing thing and get rid of it."_

"_Danny, that's brilliant, and his brainwashing water thing, I can destoy it. I… I do have PSI, and I can use it to get rid of it."_

"_What if it doesn't work?"_

"_We'll make it work, Danny. We have to try, right?"_

"_Yeah, and maybe we can save Alex and Carlos and they can apologize to Jeff ad Tony! A-Actually, I should apologize to them, too. I don't think they'd believe me, so do you think you can do it?"_

"… _I can try, but I just hope that it's safe to trust you, Danny."_

"_I see how sweet you are. I really want to leave Tazmily the way it is, and maybe, after we destroy Pokey's brainwash, maybe we can go on a real date?"_

"_A-ah, sure, Danny," Chris said, blushing. "But, what did you want to do to help Jeff & Tony?"_

"_Well, I heard already that Claus said you were, uh, cute, and maybe we can tell people that I asked you out already?"_

"… _Not sure if it could work, but we'll give it a shot… Ah! Claus, I forgot about him. Uh… should I tell him about everything you just told me, Danny?"_

"_Yeah, tell him, and please make sure he trusts me."_

"_I will, I just hope he doesn't get jealous about this date!"_

_Danny laughed._

"_Yeah, I don't want to get attacked again."_

_Chris smiled and hugged Danny._

"_Let's go outside, and you'll ask me out real loudly so people hear, ok?"_

"_Sure, Ok." Danny said, laughing._

…

"… So, Danny really _is_ good," Lucas said.

"Yeah," Tony said. "I'm glad he's trying to help me, too."

"That really is good, huh? Well, Claus really is stubborn, huh? I guess he was right, but he was also wrong."

"That doesn't make much sense," Nana said. Lucas just smiled.

"Well, let's go, it's getting late," Lucas said, he stood up and gathered his things.

"The one thing I'm glad about id that the DCMC concert is free," Tony said as he walked with Lucas and Nana.

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah, because then people don't have to pay."

"What would they pay?" Nana asked.

"Ha, you know, money."

"Money?" Lucas and Nana said together. Everything at the school was free, so they never came across the term 'money.'

"You guys have never heard of money? Wow, you're weird. Well, I have to go now," Tony said, going to a different part of the boat.

"I wonder what 'money' is," Nana said to herself. Lucas merely shrugged.

…

"Hey, Claus, can I talk to you?" Lucas said when he got home.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you go on a double date with me and Nana?"

"Uh, sure… Do you want me to take Richie?"

"Yeah, I'm taking Nana to the DCMC concert tomorrow, and then we were going to get something to eat in Onett. I went with Ness once, so I kind of know my way around."

"Oh, that's cool. Sure, I'll ask Richie."

"Great. Hey, do you know what 'money' is?"

"Money? Where'd you hear that?" Claus asked.

"Well, I heard Tony say something about it earlier."

"Actually, I kind of know what it is. I found some on the floor once and it said it was a 5, so I asked Ninten what it was and he laughed at me, so I punched him and he explained what money was. Apparently, you can use it to buy stuff."

"Well, we definitely don't use it in Tazmily," Lucas said.

"That's for sure."

"So, the date's set?"

"Uh… yeah…"

"Ok," Lucas said. He went to his bunk, laid down and sighed. "Tomorrow's gonna be a LONG day, isn't it?"

"Yeah it will." Claus said.

…

"Richard, will you wake up?" Mrs. Poname yelled through the house.

"Risk, hey, wake up," Chris said, poking her brother's face. Risk groaned.

"I hate when mom calls me '_Richard'_."

"Well, it IS your real name."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever… _Christiana_."

"Wha-? DAMN YOU, RICHARD!"

"CHRISTIANA!"

"Kids…" the twins' mom said menacingly, coming up the stairs.

"Mom?" the twins said simultaneously, both suddenly scared.

"You two… GET DOWNSTAIRS _NOW_!"

"Yes mom!" the two said and ran downstairs.

…

"Wess, I'm going now," Duster fixed his wig, tightened the grip on his double bass cello case, and walked outside.

"Hey, Duster," Kumatora's voice rang.

"Oh, it's you," Duster said bitterly.

"What's with you?" Kumatora asked, finally by his side.

"You ditched me yesterday! Do you know how long I spent looking for this?"

"Sorry, I just kinda lost track of time, and next thing I know, it's dark outside and I'm going back to Osohe," Kumatora said angrily. Duster just groaned.

"Whatever, I have to go to the high school to get ready for the concert later."

"Well, can I go with ya?" Kumatora asked.

"I'd rather go alone, thanks," Duster said, leaving Kumatora shocked. Kumatora stared at Duster before growling. She ran up to him and punched him straight in the face.

"Aah! Kumatora," Duster yelled, on the floor.

"God damn it, Duster! Stop being so…!"

"So, what?"

"Stop being such a moron!"

"… You sound like my father. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were practically working together to make me feel down."

"What? Duster, that's crazy!"

"You're always beating me up and Wess is always bringing me down, discouraging me and saying I can't do anything…"

"Duster, I'm not trying to put you down or anything."

"So then why do you always tease me?"

Kumatora remained silent for a few moments before sticking her hands into her sweater pocket and walking away.

"Hey, I didn't get an answer!"

"You will, when you learn to see when a girl's flirting with you," Kumatora said as she walked. If Duster saw the look on her face, he'd be angry, since Kumatora was grinning broadly.

…

"Eto… which one do I choose?" Chris said to herself as she came across one of the toughest decisions of her life; which dress to wear.

"Aah! This is too confusing! How come in shows and movies girls always find the perfect funking dress every single time?" Chris yelled, grabbing her head and staring at the ceiling, as if asking God himself what to do.

"Chris, you still having trouble?" Nana asked as she walked into Chris' room.

"Nana? When did you get here?" Chris asked, slightly shocked at Nana's appearance.

"Oh, just a few minutes ago." Nana was holding a small plastic bag that Chris guessed was Nana's dress. The two friends decided to get ready together so they could go together.

"Ah, Nana, help me! I hate wearing dresses and now that the time's come… I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WEAR!"

"D-Don't worry, Chris, I'll help you find something," Nana said, not wanting to see her friend go crazy over a small matter.

"Thank you, Nana," Chris whispered harshly, sitting on the floor. Nana , confused, looked at the dresses. After a while, Nana picked one.

"AHA! This is perfect!" Nana yelled.

"…Huh?" Chris asked.

"This dress, right here!"

"A-are you sure, Nana?"

"Yeah! Danny will like it! And… I'm sure Claus will like it, too," Nana added staring at Chris smugly.

"Ah, Nana! I think I'm going to go change now!" With that, Chris slammed the room door, leaving Nana alone in the room while Chris blushed furiously on the other side.

…

"Ok, Claus, ready?" Lucas asked. He was wearing a short-sleeved white button-up polo shirt and black pants.

"A-Almost!" Claus was also wearing a similar shirt, but he was wearing black shorts and trying to pull on a simple dark grey jacket. After a bit of struggle, Claus got the jacket on.

"Ah, finally. Hey, how are we going to pay for the food at the restaurants, Lucas?

"Uh… I forgot about that," Lucas said, laughing nervously. Claus stared at his twin.

"HOW COULD YOU FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

"Ah! Claus! Calm down!" Lucas yelled, hiding behind the doorframe.

"Well, what are we gonna do?"

"Don't worry, we'll just, uh-"

"Aargh, Lucas! Why?"

"W-Why what?"

"We have to pick somewhere else to go, and fast. Knowing Richie, she can tell when we don't have anything planned."

"Well, what do we do?"

"… Maybe we could borrow some money from Ness?"

"How will we? Ad… I don't want to. There's no way we could pay him back."

"Urh, you know what? Let's just go to the DCMC Concert, and maybe just walk through the park or somethin'. I dunno, we're running out of time."

"Ok, let's just do that. Alright, get Richie and meet me at the beach," Lucas said, running down stairs.

…

"Hey, Chris, can I talk to you before Danny gets here?" Risk asked his older twin.

"Sure, what's up, Risk?" Chris asked. She had some hair pins between her teeth, so the word came out kind of strange.

"I… I'm planning on snooping around the principal later today. It's only seven o'clock, so I should have plenty of time."

"Oh, you're already going? I thought you'd wait a little."

"No, I figured the principal might be siding with Pokey. I don't know, I just have this nagging feeling."

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah, and Danny said he needed to show you something?"

"Yes…?"

"…Well, call me crazy, but maybe I could find something out if I follow you guys."

"Wha-? RISK!"

"I swear, it's to find out about the principal."

"Grr, Risk, I swear, if you follow me on my date, I'll kill you!"

"W-well, what should I do?"

"Uh… you can… snoop around her office, or something. Try to see if she has any secrets."

"Yeah… smart, sis."

"Anyone could've thought of that."

"Hah ha, very funny. Well, wish me luck. And I hope it's not awkward on your date," Risk said.

"Awkward? Why would it be awkward?" Chris asked, confused.

"Uh…" Risk suddenly made a dash for the door, leaving his sister even more confused and suspicious.

…

**So sorry I ended the chapter here, but I need to split this with the date, thus making the chapter count larger, as I'm still planning the future outcome of this. Yeah, reading a wordy book. (cough_ANGELA'S_ASHES_cough) Good book, good book.**

**Please review and you might make a very special someone very happy... and you could also make someone a human piñata in the next chapter(Pokey?). Also, if you guys could, PLEASE vote on the poll. I really need to know what the name should be. Thanks. (Another note: I'm thinking of changing my screen name, so look out for that.)**


	18. A Date of Disaster

**A VERY SPECIAL CHAPTER ON A VERY SPECIAL DAY… that I can assure won't go well for me. I'm seriously going to hate Valentine's Day this year… Feckin' Danny (the real one I HAD [HAVE STILL] a crush on).**

…

"Geez, that was a close one," Risk said as he hid outside. His sister really didn't know about Lucas and Nana's devious plan… Risk sighed.

"I guess this is what you'd call dramatic irony, huh?" Risk stared at his house once more before leaving to find out any secrets the strange principal could be hiding.

…

"Richie, sorry I'm late," Claus said between gasps. He had ran to the girl's house in order to not be later than he already was.

"This is unacceptable Claus!" Richie suddenly yelled.

"Wha-what?" Claus asked, taken aback.

"YOU'RE 34 MINUTES LATE!"

'Thir-thirty-four minutes…?' Claus asked, shocked that Richie had kept track. "But it's only… 5:54."

"Yeah, you were supposed to be here by 5:20!"

"Well, I said I'd TRY to be here at 5:20, but that I might also be a bit late. You know I'm not good at time," Claus said grumpily.

"A-Ah, I guess you're right," Richie said sheepishly. She didn't want to lose Claus again. "I really shouldn't be complaining. I mean, it took me over an hour to get ready."

That's when Claus noticed exactly what Richie was wearing.

"Whoa."

Richie was wearing a dark purple single strapped dress that was just above the knees. She also had her hair in a single ponytail on the top left side of her head. She was also wearing small diamond earrings as well as dark blue flats.

"Do you like it?" Richie asked with a laugh.

"You look beautiful, Richie," Claus said. Richie smiled.

"You don't look half-bad yourself, Claus," Richie said.

"That's all I get?"

"Ha-ha!"

"Well, shall we get going? I promised Lucas I'd meet him and Nana by Leder's bell."

"We shall."

…

Nana had decided to wear a turtleneck red dress that went to her knees and had a small v-cut at the bottom of the dress. She was wearing matching red shoes with short heels and was wearing her hair down for once.

Chris was wearing a white v-neck dress with very short sleeves that was similar in length to Nana's, but had the v-cuts on the side of the legs. She was wearing grey flats and had put her hair in a ponytail similar to Nana's usual ponytail.

"Lucas…. I swear if you're telling the truth I'll kill you," Chris said angrily. She, Nana, Lucas, and Danny were at Leder's bell.

"I'm sorry Chris, but you and Claus really need to talk again," Lucas said.

"Well, what if I don't want to talk to Claus, huh?" Chris asked angrily.

"I-I know you two are having trouble, and I just… I really don't want you guys to be fighting. I hate when I have friends who fight," Lucas admitted. His innocence started to grow onto Chris and she started falling into his guilt trip.

"F-Fine! I'll try to make up with him. But I don't know how I'll do it with Richie around."

"Don't worry, Lucas and I have a plan," Nana said.

"Yeah? A-Ah, Danny, I'm sorry. I… kinda forgot about you," Chris said nervously. Danny sighed.

"It's ok. Besides, we still have that mission, ok?"

"Yeah."

"What mission?" Lucas asked, but just then, Claus and Richie had seen their guests.

"WHY ARE THEY HERE?" Richie almost screamed. She and Claus both had a look of anger and disbelief. Chris and Danny shared a look that said 'Try not to yell back…'

"Claus," Chris said sweetly. She wore a large smile on her face. "R-Richie," Chris said with a bit of struggle. She also resisted the urge to kill the troublesome girl. Danny simply put a hand up to wave at the two.

"Lucas," Claus said through gritted teeth. "Why are _they_ here?" Claus asked, pointing to Chris and Danny, who again wore the looks of sudden hatred.

"You know, it's rude to point," Danny said bitterly. Claus stared at him angrily before staring at Chris, who looked a bit sad, but also slightly angry. She noticed him staring at her and stared back angrily.

"What?" she asked sharply. Claus continued staring for a few minutes before replying with "Nothing."

"So, Lucas, WHY are they here?" Richie asked angrily.

"Well, I wasn't sure whether to have my brother or my friend with me on my first date, so I asked both of them at the same time, hoping one would refuse. But they both accepted, so we decided to make it a triple date," Lucas said, being partially honest.

"Ok, but why didn't you tell us AFTER?" Claus asked.

"Be-because then all of you would've disagreed…"

"Lucas…" Claus went up to his twin and pulled him away from the others.

"What are you really doing?" Claus asked sternly. Lucas sighed.

"You know what I'm doing Claus. You said yourself you had feelings for Chris, and I know she has something to do with…" Lucas' voice trailed off.

"With what?" Claus asked impatiently.

"The time machine," Lucas said quietly. Claus gasped.

"Wha-what?"

"Think about it: they don't seem to mention where they came from, they never speak about how they got their PSI, and they always seem to know when something bad is about to happen, or Risk, at least."

"But… I still don't see how this has anything to do with this date," Claus said.

"Well, Danny said he wanted to show Chris something, from what you told me, and earlier right before you and Richie came, Danny and Chris were saying something about a 'mission', so maybe we should stick along with them."

Claus growled slightly. "I don't like it, but I guess it can't be helped…" Claus said bitterly. He really hated the idea of spending time with Danny, but he wanted to make sure Chris was safe. The two twins, having been separated from the group from such a distance heard sounds of yelling. Claus immediately realized who was yelling: Chris and Richie. Sure enough, he and Lucas saw Nana holding back Richie and Danny holding back Chris.

"Wh… what's going on?" Lucas asked. Claus facepalmed. Both Chris and Richie stared at the twins, pointed toward the other girl and yelled "SHE STARTED IT!"

"This… is not going to end well, is it, Luke?" Claus said quietly as he took Richie from Nana.

…

"Ahh! DCMC!" someone yelled outside the high school.

"I think we overdressed," Nana said quietly to Chris who nodded in turn. A few other girls were wearing dresses, but not as extravagant.

"Look, there are Ninten and Ness," Chris said as she walked swiftly towards them, ignoring Claus as she walked past him.

"Hey Chris," Ness said.

"Hi, Ness! Where are Paula and Ana?"

"Ah, they're going to the bathroom," Ninten said. "Probably doing… girl things or something."

"Ha, ok Ninten… so, you guys double-datin'?"

"No, it'd be really weird on a double-date with my… parents," Ness said.

"Oh, I see…. AH, NINTEN! I FORGOT!" Chris suddenly said in an outburst.

"What?" Ness asked.

"What is it?" Ninten asked.

"…Ninten, please don't be mad, but I promised Pippi that I'd hook her up with you…"

"You what?" Ninten asked, the color fading from his face.

"I-I'm sorry, but she wouldn't stop talking about you and I wasn't entirely sure if you and were dating and… I, I'M SORRY!"

"I-It's ok… just as long as Ana-"

"I don't what?" Ana asked, coming with Paula.

"Uh…"

"Welp, it was nice chattin' with you two. Bye! Have fun" Chris said as she left the awkward group.

"Well, that went well," Danny said sarcastically. Chris giggled.

"Ha-ha, I feel so stupid… I should've known Ninten- er, Ana- wouldn't agree with it."

"Well, it's his problem now," Nana said.

"I guess," Danny said.

"Huh? Kumatora… Hey, Kumatora!" Lucas said loudly, running up to the princess.

"Oh, hey, Lucas. Are you going to see Duster play?"

Actually, we're all going to see DCMC, not just Duster. Wonder why ya only mentioned him?" Claus mocked.

"You wanna get punched, ya little runt?" Kumatora threatened.

"Nah, I'm on a date tonight."

"Oh…" Kumatora looked at the group of teenagers.

"Are you with the black-haired girl?"

Both Claus and Chris got annoyed at this.

"WE'RE NOT DATING!" They both yelled before turning away from each other with their arms crossed.

"Geez, I was only askin. So, who are you, Blackie?"

Chris smirked at the tomboyish princess.

"The name's Chris. I'm here with Danny-kun and I'm double... uh, triple-dating with Lucas and Nana," Chris explained.

"And us," Richie said, referring to Claus and herself.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you," Chris said. Richie growled.

"What did you say?"

"Ok, just calm down, Rich," Claus said, not wanting to break up another fight.

"You disgust me," Richie said harshly.

"I'd rather eat shit than stare at you," Chris said.

"Ok, let's just all… go inside," Kumatora said. As the group walked inside, the tension between Richie and Chris seemed to only grow stronger.

"Uh... so, Kumatora, how do you know Lucas?"

"Hm? Oh, it's a long story. It goes way back, to when I was about… 12? I can't remember, but anyway, I was playing with Duster, whose old man Wes was talking to the Magypsies."

"The who?" Richie asked.

"The Magypsies. They've been on the islands for as long as history can tell and are like my guardians. Anyway, Wes never told us what he needed to talk to the Magypsies about, but one day, me and Duster were playing in the forest when we accidentally ran into some Dragos. They were just lying there, not doing anything.

"I really wanted to play with them, but they wouldn't budge. So, I started jumping on their backs and throwing some rocks at them. Duster said I shouldn't have gotten them angry, but I wanted to have fun, you know? I was young. Then, the Dragos got really mad and were ready to attack us when Lucas came out of nowhere."

"Lucas, when was this?" Nana asked.

"Uh, about five years ago. It was when Claus and I were visiting our grandpa Alec that year."

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, then Lucas somehow managed to calm down the drago, but it wasn't that angry, so it really wasn't that big a deal, but I never forgot what happened. Lucas left saying that he had to go see his brother, and since he and Orange head here were staying for a few more days, Duster, me and the twins played together for the next few days."

"Wow. That sounds like a real adventure," Nana said.

"It was," Lucas said.

"You sound like a real brave hero in her story, Lucas." Nana said sweetly.

"Oh, do I? Hehe," Lucas blushed and laughed nervously.

"So did you guys ever talk much after that?" Danny asked.

"Oh, yeah. You know how the Middle School is part of the Elementary school? Well, I was a T.A. for Lucas and Claus' class before I graduated later that year."

"That's really cool," Richie said.

"Yeah, well, enough with the chit-chat, the show's gonna start soon."

"Hey, should we get some snacks?" Danny asked Lucas and Claus. Claus ignored him while Lucas nodded his head. Lucas, Danny, Chris and Nana went to get some food while Claus, Richie and Kumatora were alone.

"So, Claus, with that girl's mouth, I thought you two would be together," Kumatora said.

"What's that supposed to mean, you dumbshit?"

Kumatora punched Claus on the back of his head.

"Do ya talk to your mother like that? And you just proved it."

"Uh, Claus is dating me," Richie said. "We actually just got back together."

"That's cool," Kumatora said subconsciously. She was checking if Duster was coming out yet.

"Claus, I'm hungry," Richie whined.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Let's get some food."

"Let's wait for Lucas and the others to come back. I don't want to be near Danny right now, annoying shit."

"Well, I don't like Chris all that much, but I'm hungry. We're getting food," Richie said, grabbing Claus' arm and going to the food area.

"Wha-? Oh, come on, Rich!"

"You really aren't much of a gentleman, Claus," Richie said. Claus scowled. They passed Lucas and the others as they made their way to the food stand.

"Two frozen yogurts, please." Richie said. She handed one to Claus as they went back to their little group.

"Hey, the show's about to start," Chris muttered to Claus, not looking him in the eye.

"Tonda Gossa," a voice said. Several people cheered and said 'tonda gossa' as well.

"Are you ready to rock?" the voice said again. The lights dimmed as the curtains unveiled to show the band. More cheers erupted from the audience.

"Alright, get ready for a song by none other than DCMC," OJ said loudly. Several people screamed and cheered.

"So, you may, feel all alone, feeling run down and completely broken. Well, may be now, it is time to shine your light," Magic and Duster sang together.

The audience started singing along to it.

"Such, a great, mind of a thief, don't let them get you, and pull you in grief," they sang.

"Believe in us, you know, it will be alright…" Duster sang.

"They may, not think that you're smart, but you are, much more important, broken or not, get back up and walk…" the audience sang.

"You have the strength in your heart…" Kumatora sang softly.

…

The band eventually finished the concert, resulting in cheers that seemed endless. Chris and Nana cheered as well, clapping and yelling.

"That was amazing," Nana said.

"You weren't kidding, they are great," Chris said.

"Hey, guys, it was nice hangin' with you and all, but I gotta go find Duster," Kumatora said, leaving the six teens.

"Well, now that it's over, what are we going to do now?" Richie asked.

"Uh…" Claus said. He grabbed Lucas' shoulder and whispered to him.

"What do we do?" Claus whispered harshly.

"L-Let's just go to the beach, okay?" Lucas suggested.

"Fine."

The two went back to the group and started heading towards the beach.

…

"Aah, the ocean is so amazing at night," Nana said.

"Wow… the moon really sparkles in the water," Lucas said, mesmerized. The group had decided to separate for a bit, so Lucas and Nana were sitting at Nana's cliff. They could see Claus and Richie on one end of the sandy beach and Chris and Danny on the other. They were at completely opposite sides of each other.

"Hey… Nana…" Lucas said quietly.

"What is it, Lucas?" Nana asked, a quizzical look on her face.

"You and Chris are best friends, aren't you?" Lucas asked slowly. Nana giggled.

"Yeah, she's the first person to actually want to be friends with me in such a long time!"

Lucas smiled sadly at her.

"Why did you want to know, Lucas?"

"Oh… just curios…"

'If Chris really did come only because of the time machine… Nana would lose her only friend,' Lucas thought.

…

"So, Danny, want to go to the place you were telling me about?" Chris asked, wanting to be as far away from Claus and Richie as possible.

"I don't think we can. I live in Twoson, so that would mean we'd have to go all the way back to Eagleland," Danny said.

"O-Oh… I see. That's too bad…"

"Yeah… sorry, maybe we can go another day, with Lucas and Claus?"

"Uh, yeah, that'd be… good."

Danny smiled at Chris. He stood up from the sand and hugged Chris for a few seconds.

"What was that for?" Chris asked.

"You're really great, Chris."

"Uh, th-thanks, Danny. You're really sweet, too."

Danny and Chris sat down in the sand, Chris not caring about her dress.

"The sand's really nice against your feet," Chris said.

"Yeah, it is."

Danny grabbed Chris' hand, fingering it with his thumb. The two stared at Richie and Claus across from them, who were absorbed in their conversation, but they seemed to notice that Claus would stare at the two from time to time whenever Richie wasn't looking.

"Hey… You know how Claus is kinda jealous of us?" Chris asked with a mischievous smile spread across her face.

"Yeah… Why, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Danny asked, starting to wear a smile similar to Chris'.

"Only if you're thinking of…"

"…Kissing?"

Chris nodded her head. Both checking to see if Claus was watching, which he was from the corner of his eye, started leaning towards each other.

"Go slow, so we can really test Claus' jealousy," Danny muttered.

…

"So, I said to Ange that maybe she should just tell Fuel she has a small crush on him," Richie said. Claus laughed at this.

"So Ange has a crush on my best friend, huh?"

"He is kinda the reason we're back together, right?"

"Yeah…" Claus stared at Chris and Danny on the other side and noticed something. They were both staring at him for a second before turning back to each other and…

'Are they going to kiss?' Claus suddenly thought. Anger seemed to form inside him.

'No… they're not actually going to… but…' Claus suddenly stood up and stared at the two, who were still ready to kiss.

"Claus, what are you-?" Riche asked, but Claus didn't want to hear it. He walked quickly, almost running to where Chris and Danny were.

"Hey!" He suddenly yelled. The two jumped and stared at Claus.

"What?" Danny yelled back.

"What are you doing?" Danny smirked.

"What does it look like we're doing?" He said.

Claus growled.

"It's your guy's' first date! I don't see why you should be making out!" Claus yelled angrily.

"What's going on?" Nana asked Richie. Richie looked on the verge of tears.

"Claus, you really do seem jealous, don't you?" Chris asked, her face hidden by shadows.

"I-I'm just…" Claus flustered for a bit before running from everyone.

"Claus…" Richie said. She looked heartbroken.

"Why would you do that?" Richie almost roared at Chris.

"I… I didn't think he'd get THIS mad!"

"You… you just want to ruin my life, don't you?"

"Richie, no, it's not that-"

"Then what is it?"

"Richie, please, just calm down," Nana pleaded.

"Calm down? How can I calm down? I'm going to go find Claus," Richie said, walking quickly.

"Wait, I want to go, too," Chris said, standing up.

"No. You're not going." Richie said sternly. "You've done enough damage."

"I'll go look for him," Lucas said. Nana nodded her head and went with him.

"He may not like me, but I'll go too," Danny said.

"I don't want to just sit around…" Chris said, taking a step.

"You should wait here."

"Wh…what? Why? I want to help look for him!"

"Wait here. Just incase Claus comes back."

Chris stared at Danny for a few seconds before sighing in defeat and falling to her knees. Everyone left. Chris was alone.

"I… I didn't want this…" Chris said to herself as the tears silently fell from her cheeks. She cried silently for a few minutes before she stood up and walked around a bit.

"Maybe… maybe Richie's right… Maybe I am just trying to hurt her…" Chris muttered.

"You know that's not like you…" a voice said. Chris suddenly looked up.

"Claus… You… You're back!" Chris said. Claus smiled sadly. He offered his hand to Chris.

"Uh… Can we talk?" Claus asked, scratching the back of his head and avoiding Chris' eye.

"…Claus…" Chris said, still shocked at his sudden appearance.

"I really needed to talk to you alone. That's why I caused that diversion. Come on."

Chris took Claus' hand and the two walked farther from the area the others had ran to.

…

"Well, let's see what's going on," Risk said quietly as he hid in the trees and waited for the principal to return to her office. Yes, it was rather strange for him to be stalking the principal, but it was for his sister, who he deeply cared about.

It was taking some time, so Risk decided to lay on a branch, in a 'cool like' pose. After waiting about twenty or so minutes, Risk heard a door open and close. Being swift, he sat up, making as little noise as possible and peering through the window.

"I just have some work to attend to," the principal's voice said. She sat down at her desk and sighed.

"These kids…" she muttered. The Unnamed Principal pulled out some papers from a drawer and picked up a pencil. That's when Risk noticed how dimly lit the room was. The pencil TUP was holding seemed to be glowing a bright blue-ish light. The principal started writing on the papers. Something felt out of place about it all.

Risk tried to get a closer look at the papers, being as hidden as possible. TUP suddenly stopped writing and turned her eyes towards Risk's direction. Risk froze.

'She… she can't see me, can she?' he thought.

"I know you're there… Risk Poname," The principal suddenly said in a low voice. Risk gasped inaudibly and tried to back away in the tree but found he couldn't. The principal wrote something quickly on the papers before she went to the window and stared at Risk coldly.

"Are you trying to spy on me?" she asked coyly.

"Wha… what?" Risk asked. He couldn't say much.

"Yeah, I know about what you're trying to do. You're sister said there was something 'off' about me, so you came to see if her suspicions were correct? Did you not?"

"…How did you know that?" Risk asked, getting very nervous.

"Easy. I wrote it all."

…

**CLIFFHANGERS. GOTTA LOVE THEM. **

**Risk is so adorable! He looks out for his sister and he's a NEENJAH! **

**Happy Valentine's everybody. You all get a brownie made by me and my best friends!**

**Review and get heart-shaped cookies, too! :D**

**Vote on the poll and get TWO cookies! (I've added a new choice.)**

**(Note, I'm also changing my username to xX_RikaWitchOfMiracles_Xx . I'll probably change it some time next week.)**


	19. Date of Dasaster Part TWO AND Finals

"You… you wrote it?" Risk asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes." The Principal answered calmly.

"… That doesn't make any sense," Risk said.

'_What does she mean she 'wrote' it?_' Risk thought.

Í mean that I wrote it, simple as that."

"I still don't understand."

"Well, you're a tough case, aren't you?"

"Look, I think I should just… leave now."

"Yes, I understand. This must be rather overwhelming."

"Uhm… yes. I really should just… go."

"Wait, Risk."

"Y-Yes?"

The principal stared at Risk for some time. Risk's head actually started to hurt for a while.

"What are you…?" Risk asked.

"It would be better if you never saw any of this…"

With that, Risk fainted.

…

"So… Claus… what did you want to talk about?" Chris asked. The two were still holding hands, but they both felt a very large tension in the air.

"Um… Chris… I know we haven't really known each other for too long but… I… I feel this sort of… connection between us, you know?" Claus said, hesitating with each word.

"Connection?" Chris asked in disbelief, here eyebrows raised and sporting a look that screamed '_Are you kidding me? You're using that of all things?_' Claus, however, failed to notice this.

"Y-yeah. I know, it sounds stupid, but…" Claus sighed.

"You're… not that good at this, are you?" Chris asked. Claus laughed nervously.

"C-Can I talk? Please?" Claus asked rather harshly.

"Sorry…" Chris said with a shrug.

"Uhm… anyway… I… I really like you, Chris… a lot…" Claus said, looking in the opposite direction and blushing.

"You… you like me?"

Claus grunted and nodded, still not looking her in the eye.

"I… I don't know what to say…" Chris said, truly shocked.

"Well, do you… uh… do you… like… me?" Claus asked very hesitantly.

"Claus…"

The two stood awkwardly for a few moments before Chris had hugged Claus. Claus hesitantly hugged her back.

"…I like you, too," Chris said, also blushing.

"Really?" Claus asked.

"Mm-hmm…" Chris said, her face growing hotter.

"Well, what do we do now? There's still Richie and… Danny," Claus said bitterly.

"Well… we both like each other but… I personally think we should just remain friends…"

Claus stared at Chris as if he was just slapped in the face

"I-I mean, uh, for now! I mean… uh… Oh, how do I say this?"

Chris buried her face in her hands. She went to the water and splashed some in her face. It was still hot.

"I think what you're trying to say is… that it's just too… complicated?" Claus asked, reluctant to let the words come out of his mouth. Chris gasped inaudibly, but eventually nodded her head.

"I'm sorry, Claus… maybe we can try in a few weeks or something?" Chris said tenderly.

"I guess," Claus said gruffly. Chris smiled sadly and hugged Claus again. A thought struck Claus.

"Hey… can we at least… kiss?"

Chris stared at Claus, confused.

"Y'know, to… ease the tension and know we might have something?" Claus asked nervously.

"Uh…" Chris sighed. "Ok…? B-But only be-because I r-really like you!" Chris suddenly said in an outburst. Claus smiled triumphantly.

The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours, despite it only being a minute, before slowly leaning towards each other. Their lips were only inches apart before a loud scream was heard. Chris and Claus jumped and saw that Richie had been watching the scene. Lucas and Nana were there, farther away from Claus and Chris, and Danny was nowhere to be seen.

"Wha… what is this?" Richie asked, her face angry and saddened. Her face was a deep shade of red.

"Uh, R-Richie! When did you-?" Claus started, but Richie growled and tackled Chris.

"You wretched-" Richie stared banging Chris' head to the ground before Claus pulled her away.

"Richie, c-calm down!" Claus yelled. Chris just brushed the sand out of her face and hair. Nana ran up to Chris asking, "Are you ok?" Chris merely nodded her head.

"Tell me why the hell I should calm down, Claus? This _whore_ was about to steal you away from me!" Richie screamed.

Chris, if angered by this, didn't show it. She simply stared at Claus for a quick second, and left calmly.

"W-Wait, Chris!" Nana yelled. She ran off after Chris, but Lucas stayed, trying to help his brother.

"Richie-" Claus started, but was cut off.

"Claus, you… you just… keep your mouth shut, you little rat!"

"You're calling me that? You pretty much forced me to be with you! You've been nothing but rude and bossy to not just me, but Chris and her friends too!" Claus suddenly snapped.

"I… I'm not like that!"

"Stop lying, Richie, because when you lie, you're only lying to yourself."

"I don't need this! That's it! I'm done with you, Claus!"

"Good! But you better not come crying back to me again! You're so desperate!" Claus yelled. Richie, stunned by this, ran off crying. Claus, realizing what he had done, fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

"Oh, God! This day isn't going to get any better, is it?" Claus asked Lucas, staring at the night sky.

"I… I don't know what to say, Claus. Just… try to relax. I'll be back. I'm going to go find Chris and Nana," Lucas said quietly, staring at his twin and walking away slowly.

Claus fell on his back on the sandy ground, groaning and putting a hand on his forehead.

"What do I do?" he asked himself quietly.

…

"Chris, wait," Nana cried. Chris was walking very fast.

"Nana, please. I… I need to be alone right no-," Chris suddenly stopped walking. Something caught her eye.

"I… Is that… Risk?" Chris asked no one in particular and ran up to where she thought she had seen her brother.

"Wha… where?" Nana asked, running after her.

"R-Risk!" Chris cried. He was on the ground, unconscious.

"Wait… Nana where are we?"

"Uh… This is… by your house? I-I think…" Nana said, unsure.

"What's Risk doing knocked out in the middle of nowhere?" Chris said more to herself than to Nana.

"Hey, Nana! Chris," Lucas called. He was running up to them.

"Lucas! Thank goodness you're here. Can you help me take Risk back to my house?" Chris asked.

"What happened to him?"

"I'm not sure, but, please, Lucas! Nana, can you help me, too?"

"O-Of course, Chris," nana said, helping Chris lift the twin brother. Lucas helped Nana from her side.

…

Claus was walking back to his house, still contemplating on how wrong the date had gone.

"Yes, people, you need change! This town is so boring! We need to bring some excitement to this place!" a voice Claus didn't recognize said.

"Who's… that?" Claus asked himself. He changed his direction and walked towards the source of the commotion. He saw a large crowd of people, mainly women, surrounding a rather fat man who was blabbering on and on about something called "Happy Boxes."

'_It's late… why are all these people up listening to him? Wait… so am I… crap_,' Claus thought. '_Whatever, let's just see what this fatass has to say._'

"Yes, you people could use some of my amazing Happy Boxes," the strange man said. "They'll take away all your troubles in an instant! Order now or you might not get them for an amazing deal of only twenty dollars!"

A few people seemed to murmur in the crowd.

"Dollars?"

"What are those?"

"I wonder if that has anything to do with that 'money' thing Lucas was talking about…" Claus muttered.

"What's this? You… you've never heard of dollars? What about money?" the man asked. Everyone shook their heads no.

"Oh! This is a disaster! Come, Salsa! We have business elsewhere," the man said as a small monkey walked away with him.

"Well, that was… weird," Claus said as people started clearing away, very confused. He then saw Lucas, Nana and Chris holding something.

"Is that… Risk?" Claus asked, running over to his friends.

"Do you guys need help?"

"Please," Chris asked. Claus helped her and the four eventually reached Chris' house.

"Oh, God, your brother looks as light as a feather! Why is he so heavy?" Nana asked. Chris smiled slightly.

"Thanks for helping me, you guys. I'll see you guys at school Monday?"

"Yeah," Nana said, hugging Chris.

"Bye, Chris. Come on, Claus," Lucas said.

"Wait, I need to talk to Chris," Claus said.

"Fine, but you better hurry. Mom will be mad if we're late."

"Yeah, okay," Claus said. Lucas stood at a nearby tree, waiting for Claus and Chris to finish talking.

"So… what's up?" Chris asked.

"I'm really sorry about Richie, Chris," Claus said.

"It's ok, Claus. Really!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well, I also wanted to ask if I could get that kiss from earlier."

Chris giggled. Claus smiled.

"You really like me, huh?" Chris asked.

"Yeah… I really do." Claus said contently.

The two started leaning towards each other again, when Risk suddenly groaned. Chris gasped and immediately knelt down by him. Claus was left tripping and falling face first.

"Risk, are you ok? What happened to you? Are you hurt?" Chris asked frantically. Claus got up and groaned.

"Chris?" Risk asked. "Where am I?"

"We're home, Risk," Chris said.

"Oh… Claus? What are you doing here?" Risk asked.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. I have to go anyway," Claus said, slightly disappointed.

"Oh, ok. Sorry Claus… a-about Richie, too…" Chris said sadly.

"It's ok. Bye," Claus said, leaving. Chris frowned, but turned back to her brother.

"So, what happened?" She asked as Claus left.

"Hey, Luke, I'm ready to go," Claus said, but he saw that Lucas and Nana were kissing rather passionately.

"Whoa, you two! Save it for the wedding night!" Claus joked, but he scared Lucas and Nana.

"Aah! Claus!" Lucas yelled. Nana was blushing furiously.

"Oh, would you look at the time? I have to go! Bye, Lucas," Nana yelled, leaving quickly.

"Claus, what was that?" Lucas asked furiously. Claus grinned menacingly.

"Well, Luke, looks like you have a girlfriend, eh?" Claus asked. Lucas froze.

"… Please don't tell anyone about this?"

"Mmph, ok, but Chris and Risk also saw," Claus said.

"What?"

It was true. Chris and Risk were a few feet away from Claus, their mouths ajar.

"Were you making out with Nana?" Chris asked furiously.

"Uh… well… kind of?" Lucas asked, scared from the raging teen.

"LUCAS!" Chris yelled, chasing the twin. Claus and Risk sweat dropped.

…

"So, who did you say he was?" Lucas asked, now home with Claus.

"I didn't hear a name, but he was fat and had a giant mustache."

"… By any chance, did he have a red hat or look like a plumber?"

"No, you idiot! We need to focus!"

"I just wanted to know!"

"Whatever. He said something about that money stuff…"

"Really?"

"Yeah, and he kept insulting our village, saying we lived such boring lives. This man irritates me already."

"He seems really strange. Funny, he kind of reminds me of Pokey."

"… You're right…"

…

"So, Risk, what happened to you?"

"Well, let's see, I went to the principal's office, then… I… I can't remember," Risk said, confused.

"What do you mean? Did you hit your head or something?"

"Maybe not that, but it feels like I blacked out."

"You went to the school, right?"

Risk nodded his head.

"So then… how'd you end up at the border of the beach?"

"I dunno."

"Well, you're home, and that's all that matters," Chris said, hugging her twin.

"Eaaagh," Risk whined. He jokingly pretended to look ill from the hug. Chris laughed.

"I love you, Risk."

"I love you, too, sis."

…

The weekend seemed to come and go, all the while the strange man still trying to convince people to use something called "Happy Boxes"

"Wonder what happy boxes are," Chris said. She and Lucas were hanging out before class started. Nana came in and saw Chris and Lucas. She waved to them and walked over to them.

"Hey, guys," Nana said.

"Hi, Nana," Lucas said, blushing.

"Well, you two sure had an interesting date the other day, eh?" Chris teased.

"H-Hey!" Lucas said, blushing furiously.

"I feel bad for Danny, though. I didn't see him after what happened with Risk and Claus."

"Actually he went somewhere else when we all went looking for Claus," Nana said. "He's kinda weird."

"Mmh, yes, but weird is good for me," Chris said, grinning.

"Hey, I wonder how it went with Ninten and Dr. Andonuts," Chris said quietly to Lucas.

"Let's ask them later. Teacher just came in."

The three went to their regular seats as the bell rang.

…

"Chris!" Ana yelled across the cafeteria.

"Ohh… no…" Chris said when she remembered what she said to Ninten.

"Maybe you should try to avoid Ana," Lucas suggested.

"I think it's better if I explain it?" Chris said, unsure.

"I think that's a better idea," Lucas said. He went to go talk to Nana.

"Hi… Ana…" Chris said nervously as she reached the group's table.

"Chris, I just want to know… WHY IN GOODNESS' NAME WOULD YOU SET UP MY NINTY WITH PIPPI?" Ana roared.

"Eep! Uh… I was kinda… uh... I wasn't really thinking at the time! I just hoped that Pippi would stop asking so much about Ninten?" Chris said, but that wasn't the right answer to Ana.

"I swear, if anything happens between Pippi and my Ninty… it'll be your head," Ana threatened. Chris was rather scared of Ana's newly unleashed side.

"O-Ok, Ana! I'll make sure nothing happens! (I definitely don't want you to kill me)," Chris said, the last part to herself.

"Good," Ana said. She took a deep breath. "So, how was your date on Saturday?" Ana asked, suddenly cheerful. This really scared Chris.

"Uh… well, it definitely wasn't what I expected. Danny actually kind of disappeared before the date ended," Chris explained.

"He WHAT? Oh, how could he do that?"

"I-I'm sure he didn't m-mean to!"

"Well, have you talked to him yet?"

"No…"

"Well, you should go do that!"

"Maybe later," Chris said. "Hey, whatever happened with Dr. Andonuts?"

"Hmm? Oh, we agreed that we'd wait until the next school break to use the time machine. Probably around Spring it will be ready."

"That's good."

"Yeah, but I hope we don't forget…"

"What?"

"Well, Dr. Andonuts said he'd create something to wipe the memories of people, so there wouldn't be any confusion."

"…Will it wipe our memories, too?"

"Dr. Andonuts said he'd create something so the people involved wouldn't get their memories erased."

"Oh… That's good… I've really enjoyed hanging out with you guys these past few wekks, and I definitely don't want to forget."

"Me neither."

The two girls laughed.

"Oh, Chris! I forgot! Elective classes are coming up. What are you going to choose?"

"Huh? I don't know. I think I might take cooking."

"Cooking?"

"Yeah… you see, I almost burned down my last school when I tried to cook a simple omelet."

"OMELET? WHAT?" Claus suddenly said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Nothing, just that I fail at cooking." Chris said.

"How? Cooking's easy," Claus said.

"YOU'RE NOT MAKING ME FEEL ANY BETTER!" Chris yelled. Ana laughed.

"Well, I'm glad to see you two are talking again. Did something happen on that triple date you're not telling me?" Ana asked. Chris and Claus both blushed as they remembered both failed attempts to kiss.

"Nothing special," Claus said.

"Are you sure?" Ana pestered.

"Yes!" Claus said loudly. "So, Chris, about that cooking?" Claus said rapidly, ready to change the subject. Chris immediately followed suit.

"I'm definitely no good at it. Lucas told me once that you and he love omelets, yes?"

"Yeah! My mom's omelets are the best!"

"Ok, then that will be my goal."

"Huh?"

"To make omelets as good as Hinawa's!"

"Uh… ok? Claus said, rather confused at the girl's sudden desire.

"Hey, Ninten's coming. I have to talk to him," Ana said. The three went up to Ninten.

"Hi, Ana. Are you still mad?" Ninten asked.

"No, I can never be mad at you. But, I swear if NYTHING, AND I MEAN ANYTHING happens between YOU and PIPPI, you'll be a dead man, do you hear me?" Ana roared again.

"U-Uh.."

"I SAID DO YOU HEAR ME?"

"YES," Ninten cried.

"Gee, Ninten, I have to apologize," Claus said,.

"Why?" Ninten asked.

"You see, this entire time I thought that you were the man in the relationship. As it turns out, I'm wrong," Claus joked, Chris laughed while Ninten blushed.

"Hey!" Ninten said. Ana hit Claus over the head with her frying pan.

"Stop making fun of Ninty," she said ferociously. Chris and Ninten sweat dropped.

"Hey, I just realized something," Chris aid.

"What?" Ninten asked.

"People have stopped making fun of Tony," she said.

"Oh… yeah, they have. I wonder why?"

"Maybe because of everything tht happened between me, Claus, and Danny?"

"Maybe. Oh, yeah, some people have been asking me all day. Did Claus and Richie break up again?"

"Uhm… I'm not entirely sure. They got into a fight, but me and Nana left before anything happened."

"Oh. Well, I personally think you and Claus are meant for each other," Ninten said, making Chris blush.

"WHAT?"

"Calm down, calm down, I'm only joking."

Chris noticed that Richie was staring sadly at Claus and Chris.

"O-Oh! That's right! I have to go find Danny! Be right back," Chris said as she left.

Claus rubbed his head.

"What was that about?" He asked, but he also saw Richie staring at him. She turned away.

"Claus, we're going to help you," Ana said. Both Ninten and Claus stared at her.

"What?" Claus asked.

"You just broke up with Richie, but you still have feelings for her, right?" Ana asked.

"N-No! I'm done with Richie, I really am," Claus said sadly.

"But you also have feelings for Chris, right?" Ninten asked.

"… Yeah," Claus said, nodding his head.

"Well, we're going to help you get over Richie," Ana said.

…

Several months passe. Ninten and Pippi had gone on their date, but Ninten somehow convinced Pippi to go out with Loid instead. The two had become a couple, so Loid hung out with the group less and less. He still helped out with the time machine. Ana and Ninten had also successfully gotten Claus over Richie, making him remember all the bad times with her and use that to destroy any feelings he had. Chris had discovered that Danny had his memory erased from when he told Chris about Pokey's plan. She pitied him, for being trapped with Pokey.

"Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap," Ness said.

"What's up, Ness?" Paula asked.

"Finals," Ness said. "They're already coming up. They start next week. I HAVEN'T LEARNED ANYTHING, PAULA!" Ness cried.

"Well, maybe you should stop sleeping in class!" Paula said.

"Paula, Paula, please help me study!" Ness begged.

"Fine, you lazy bum. Only because I don't want you to be held back."

"Who said I was going to be held back?"

The couple laughed.

"Hey, Ness, when do you think Claus and Chris will end up together?" Paula asked.

"Ahem," Chris said.

"We're right here," Claus said.

"Oh…" Paula said.

"Actually, when are you two gonna get together?" Ness asked.

"When Chris finally says yes," Claus said bitterly.

"Well, can it wait after Finals? I really need to focus! I don't have time to be dating," Chris said.

"Wait, Finals? They're already here?" Claus asked, scared.

"Not yet," Lucas said. He came with Ninten, Ana, Poo and Jeff.

"Oh, thank God," Claus said. Ana stared at him sharply.

"Claus!"

"I know, '_Don't use God's name in vain_,' blah, blah, blah."

"So, how's it going with the time machine?" Ness asked.

"We're almost done. Man, I'm gonna miss hanging out with you guys," Jeff said. He had started to help make the time machine a few months ago.

"Me too," Poo said.

"Hey! You know what we should do?" Throw a GIANT party!" Ninten said.

"A party?" Chris asked.

"It sounds like fun," Lucas said.

"Well, look who it is," Pokey said, walking towards the group with Alex, Danny, and Carlos.

"Whaddaya want, Porky?" Ness asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all, you dork. But I heard you were having a party."

"WE just said it two minutes ago," Chris said quietly to Ninten, who shook his head.

"So? Why would you want to go if we're a bunch of dorks?" Poo asked.

"I didn't say I wanted to come! I'm just saying that if there's a party, it has to be about King P," Pokey said proudly.

"You are so full of yourself. You make me sick," Chris said.

"Well, your stupid opinion doesn't matter," Pokey said. Claus growled.

"Why don't you just get out of here, Porky?" he said.

"Hmph, your loss," Pokey said, striding away.

"Pokey always has to ruin everything, doesn't he?" Ness said quietly.

"Well, let's just forget about him and just… focus on the finals, 'kay?" Paula said to reassure Ness. Ness nodded.

The group (and Loid) spent the next week studying together. Chris and Risk had Math covered, while Lucas, Loid and Jeff had Science. Ana, Paula, Poo, Ninten and Ness were covering History. Claus however didn't have a strong subject. Everyone did their best to help teach him, mainly Chris and Risk since Math was Claus' worst subject.

…

"Ok, class, the finals are about to begin. There's no talking allowed. If I catch anyone talking, they will immediately fail the final," Mr. Hintingmen said. He handed out the test to the entire class.

"You have two hours to complete the final. Begin."

Claus opened the final exam and stared at the first question.

'_How the hell am I supposed to know what the square root of 64 is?_' he thought.

'_Claus, are you serious?_' Risk said telepathically.

'_Risk! Thank you! Can you tell me the answer?_'

'_No! Do it yourself!_'

'_But you're great at math! Please_!'

'_Ugh, fine_.'

'_Thank you_.'

'_You owe me for this_,' Risk said telepathically as he wrote down the answer to his own question.

…

"Ana, I'm scared for the cooking final," Chris said. She had decided to take Cooking with Ana and Paula, and the three had just left PE, where they didn't do anything but sit and talk, since there was no final for PE.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine," Ana said reassuringly.

"Yeah, Chris. You've actually gotten pretty good at cooking," Paula said.

"Mmh, I'll never be as good as you two."

"Don't say that! Come on, Chris, relax. You'll do fine," Ana said as the three entered the cooking classroom.

Ana and Paula were working together while Chris was paired with Nana, who also decided to take cooking.

"Ok, class, for the final, you and your partner will work together to make this dish," the teacher said. She showed on the overhead that the group was making…

"Fancy tacos?" Nana asked. That's basically what the food looked like.

"Yes, fancy tacos. You have two hours, so begin and take your time. I don't want any mistakes."

'_This shouldn't be that hard, right?_' Chris thought.

…

"You burned down the cooking class?" Claus asked. The school had a fire drill due to the incident and all the students were in the PE field.

"I completely failed," Chris said sadly. Claus sighed.

"Well, Chris, if anything, I gotta thank you," he said.

"For what?"

"You got me out of my English final. I had to write an essay on grammar or something like that," he said.

"Oh… well, I'm glad I could help." Chris said cheerfully. Claus sat down next her. Chris was staring at the sky,so Claus took this as a chance to attempt to kiss her. Chris, starting to notice, quickly got up.

"Claus!"

"What?"

"Are you really trying to kiss me?" She asked.

"Wha- Oh, come on, Chris! You're killing me here!"

"I'm sorry, Claus, but I really just can't right now." Chris sat back down. Claus sighed gruffly.

"I… guess I should apologize, too," Claus said.

"I still really like you, though."

"Then go out with me."

"Claus."

"Sorry."

…

**I think I overdid it with ChrisxClaus. ^^; This chapter is probably the most rushed out of all the chapters. I need to finish the story soon, so that's why the chapters are getting longer. Yes, Chris cannot cook for her life. And Claus can't get Chris to kiss him. I need to think of a name for them. **

**Also, I realized that I published SB over half a year ago. YAY!**


	20. Lost Memories

"Nana, are you ok?" Lucas asked. Nana had been with Chris when the fire started, but she was unharmed.

"I'm fine Lucas," Nana said. Lucas sighed in relief.

"Good. I was worried because I heard the fire started from the cooking class." Lucas said, sitting by Nana.

"Yeah, Chris was trying to cook the meat, but she left if too long and… now we're here," Nana explained.

"Ha, well, I guess we're not the best at everything," Lucas said. Nana smiled.

"Ana and Paula were also upset because the fire destroyed their dish," Nana said.

"Ha, really? They would be," Ness said, walking towards the two with Ninten.

"Yeah, but the tacos also had steak in them, and they were planning on giving them to you," Ninten said. Ness almost had a heart attack.

"WHAT?"

"Yep. Sorry, Ness," Ninten said as he pulled out an Oreo from a plastic bag and ate it. Ness just started sulking, muttering "steak," "fire," and "Paula."

"So, what Final did you have, Ninten?" Lucas asked.

"I had History, easiest subject ever. Especially since I've already lived it," Ninten said. Lucas and Nana laughed at this. "What about you, Lucas?"

"I had English with Claus. I was actually doing pretty well until the sprinklers came on and destroyed my paper," Lucas said. Now it was Ninten's turn to laugh.

"So, are we still gonna have that party or what?" Ninten asked, his mouth full of Oreos.

"I dunno. Are we?" Lucas asked.

"Well, Valentine's Day is next month, so maybe we should have it then?"

"Eh, I guess," Lucas said, unsure.

"Hm, I'm gonna go find Claus and Chris. I really need to tell Chris thanks for the fire. I couldn't stand not talking to anyone," Ninten said, getting up and leaving.

"Ok, bye," Lucas said.

Ninten walked around a little bit. He pulled out another Oreo and shoved it into his mouth.

"Dang it, where are they?" Ninten said to himself. He continued looking when he saw Claus' orange hair and Chris' black hair.

"There they are," Ninten said, running up to the two. An idea formed in Ninten's head. As soon as he was close to the two, Ninten put his arms out and pushed Claus out of his seat.

"WAH!" Claus yelled as he crashed into the ground. Ninten laughed. Claus landed on his face and when he sat up, he had scratches on his face.

"CLAUS! Oh, are you-?" Chris started, but Ninten tapped Chris' shoulder.

"Hey, Chris... S'up, Claus?" Ninten said, staring at Claus on the floor.

"Ow," Claus said. Chris went to help him up.

"Are you ok?" she asked. Claus smiled nervously at her. Chris pulled some tissues out from her back pack, tore up some small pieces, and started dabbing Claus' cuts.

"Whaddaya want, Ninten," Claus said, glaring at Ninten.

"Well, someone's touchy. Hey, Chris, I gotta thank you. It was so BORING in class, not being able to do anything! I finished my final, but there was still a lot of time left. I needed to talk to someone," Ninten said.

"Uh, you're welcome?" Chris asked, checking if Claus was hurt anywhere else.

"Chris, I'm fine. Just leave it alone," Claus said.

"I… I just want to make sure you're ok," Chris said sweetly. Claus smiled at her.

"Hey, so I was talking to Lucas earlier, and we decided- well, I decided- that the party was going to be on Valentine's Day. What do you guys think?" Ninten said.

"A-Are we still going to have that party?" Chris asked.

"Heck yeah! Why not?"

"Well, why Valentine's Day? That day annoys me," Claus said bitterly.

"Why?" Ninten and Chris asked.

"Too many people act all mushy that day. I'm also really sick of seeing a bunch of stupid red hearts and flowers and stupid balloons everywhere," Claus explained.

"It _is_ kinda pointless," Ninten agreed.

"Wow, you guys," Chris said, standing up.

"What?" Claus asked. Chris just shook her head.

"It's supposed to be a romantic day where you can proclaim your love in such an extravagant way! Any girl would love to see a guy with flowers or candies," Chris said swooning.

"So you like Valentine's Day?" Ninten asked.

"Eh, it's all just some big marketing trick, but every year my friends and I would all make each other sweets before I moved," Chris said, shrugging.

"I thought you couldn't cook," Ninten said. Chris sweat dropped.

"Yeah, but baking is something completely different. The cookie dough packages have instructions on the back," Chris said quietly.

"I don't see much of a difference," Claus said. Chris sighed and started walking away.

"Hey, where are ya going?" Claus asked.

"Nowhere," Chris said as she walked.

"Well, that was…" Ninten started, but didn't have a word for it.

"Weird?" Claus suggested.

"Yeah, weird."

…

"Ok, everyone, the fire has been stopped and you can all go home now," the principal announced.

"Finally," Ana said. She was losing her patience and was tired of hanging out with Tony and Jeff, who just kept rambling on and on about some scientist at Snow Woods.

"Hey, Jeff, so I'll go to your house Friday?" Ana asked.

"Yeah, like always," Jeff said.

"Alright. Bye," Ana said, collecting her things and leaving.

"She's going to your house?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. I'd tell you, but you'd get confused," Jeff said. Tony frowned and sighed.

"Well, I should go, too, Jeff. Bye," Tony said, also leaving. Jeff seemed confused.

'Why's Tony acting so weird?' he thought. Jeff shrugged it off and gathered his things as well.

…

"Teddy," Ninten said as he found his old friend.

"Hey, Ninten. What are you doing here?" Teddy asked.

"My school had a fire drill and the teachers just let us go," Ninten explained.

"Did you teleport here?"

"Yeah, but I made sure no one could see me."

"Oh. Well, you're getting better at it. You're not all black for once," Teddy said, laughing.

"Hahaha, shut up," Ninten said sharply.

"Hm, well, what's up?"

"Well, I realized I haven't told you yet about how my stupid PK Teleport screwed everything up."

"What are you talking about, Ninten?"

"We're not supposed to be here, in this mixed up time zone. I somehow merged the time zones between me, Ness, Lucas and Claus together."

"…How?"

"I don't know… but, Ana, Loid, Jeff, Dr. Andonuts and I have been working on something to fix it all. I'm planning a party for me and all my friends to celebrate our last few months together."

"Wait, when is the time machine going to be ready?"

"It's been ready, but I'm not ready to leave yet. Teddy, I met my son."

"Your… son?"

"Ness. He's Ana's and my son."

"Well, at least you know you and Ana will be together."

"Yeah, but I realized Ness is just like me. He loves most of the things I love, except for Oreos."

"What? How can he be your son, then?"

"I KNOW, RIGHT? Anyway, Ana, Loid and I decided we needed to leave soon. My older self… he almost died from a car accident a few months ago. Dr. Andonuts is starting to seem sick. He said he just has a cold, but I know it's not that."

"Wait… who's Dr. Andonuts?"

"Loid."

"His last name's Andonuts?"

"Yeah, I was surprised, too."

"So… when's this party gonna be?"

"I want it to be Valentine's Day, but I'm not all too sure."

"You should have it later, so we could have a good-bye party."

"… Yeah. Yeah, thanks, Teddy. I have to go now. Bye, man," Ninten said.

"Later. Hey, come see me again with Ana and Loid. I miss you guys."

"Uh… ok…"

With that, Ninten teleported away. Or, he tried. When it seemed like it would work, Teleport backfired and Ninten was covered in black smoke. Ninten heard Teddy laughing loudly behind him. Ninten sighed and started coughing from the smoke.

…

"Risk, don't feel bad," Lucas said. Risk sighed.

"What's up with my bro?" Chris asked, walking with Claus to a tree where Lucas, Claus, Chris and Risk would hang out.

"He's… upset," Lucas said.

"Oh, God, Risk. Don't tell me. Is it because you don't have a girlfriend?" Chris suddenly asked. Risk groaned loudly.

"You don't have a girlfriend?" Claus asked.

"He never has had one," Chris said. Claus started laughing, but Chris and Risk glared at him.

"Come on, Risk. You don't need a girlfriend. I don't have a boyfriend," Chris said, sitting next to her twin.

"I thought you and Claus were dating," Risk said. Chris simply glared at Claus again.

"No, we're not dating," Claus said, sighing.

"Cool. If you hurt my sister, I'll rip your head off," Risk said. Chris hit Risk's arm with her hand.

"Stop it," she said.

"Well, I want a girlfriend," Risk said.

"You won't get one with that attitude. Come on, get up," Chris said, pulling her brother up.

"No, I don't want to," Risk whined.

"Come on, you little weenie. Get up," Chris said, still trying to pull Risk up. She was trying so hard, she actually fell over and fell on the ground.

"Ow," Chris said. She got up and stared at her brother.

"Fine, I won't help you get a girlfriend. I think Janet Garcia could've been a good girlfriend," Chris said to herself.

"Who?"

"Never mind." Chris sat down between Risk and Claus. They sat there for some time.

"Hey… Chris… I can't believe I never asked this, but where'd you move here from?" Lucas asked. Claus, Chris and Risk all stared at Lucas.

"Uh… well…" Chris said nervously. She stared at Risk.

"We came from…" Risk' voice faded away.

"Well, spit it out," Claus said, impatient.

"Well… we're not from anywhere, really," Chris said, biting her lip.

"What?" Lucas asked, startled.

"You guys are really starting to creep me out," Claus said. Chris smiled at him.

"Well, It's a really long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?" she asked. Lucas and Claus nodded their heads. Chris sighed as she began her story. "Ok… It started when we met a girl named Hoshi back when we were about ten."

"She was the cause of Chris' aggressive side," Risk joked. Chris laughed sadly.

"Yeah, she toughened me up," Chris said, smiling. "Anyway, we hung out with her a lot back than and we found out she could use PSI. She's a descendant of Ness. The only reason we found out was because she was hurt and we saw her healing herself. She ended up teaching us our PSI," Chris said, her voice breaking.

"Chris and Hoshi had a teacher who had known of Ness' triumph over Giygas. He was obsessed with wanting to learn it. Hoshi could only use defensive PSI, so she didn't need to use it that much. Chris and I, since we can use elemental PSI, it was harder to control.

"One day, Chris accidentally set a bush on fire. We put it out, but we found out that the teacher had seen it," Risk continued

"Knowing that he had a student who could use PSI, he held me back after school one day," Chris said. "He said he needed to talk to me about something. When all the students left, he asked me if I could use PSI.

"Hoshi told us to never tell anyone. So I said no. But he went crazy. He threw a chair at me, but it missed. He almost screamed that he had seen me use it. I didn't know what to do. I panicked and tried to run, but the teacher attacked me and tried to force me to admit it. When I still didn't say anything, he said something about how someone would be able to prove it."

"Hoshi and I realized something was wrong because Chris was saying to us telepathically to go to her classroom. When we got their, the teacher was trying to tie Chris up, so I pushed him off of her. He hit me, and because I was so angry that he was trying to hurt me and my sister, I ended up using PK Thunder. I paralyzed him and he yelled."

Risk heard Lucas gasp.

"We panicked more. Hoshi told us to run, but we couldn't. Risk and I were so horrified at what had happened. Some teachers heard the noises and ended up coming to the room. They saw the teacher not moving and saw both Risk's and my hands sparking from the uncontrolled PSI. They thought the teacher was dead and started yelling. They were going to capture us if it weren't for Hoshi. She used PSI Shield to make a barrier and give us time to escape.

"Despite our protests, Hoshi ended up staying. The shield wore off and so did the paralysis. My teacher grabbed Hoshi and tried to take her away. We saw him trying to escape and we couldn't stand that he was still trying to get PSI. He ended up shoving Hoshi into some van and there was another person driving. The van started driving and my Teacher was about to get in, so…"

"Chris ended up using PK Freeze on him and I ended up using PK Thunder. That combo of attacks killed him, but the van got away. We never saw Hoshi after that," Risk said sadly.

"So… what happened after that?" Claus asked.

"The teachers reported this to everyone else in the neighborhood," Chris said. "They tried to take me and Risk from our home, so our parents decided to hide us. One day, someone actually broke into the house and tried to take Risk, but our dad fought him off. We had to leave. But I had to find Hoshi and save her. I wasn't going to let her sacrifice herself for me.

I begged my parents for us to stay, but they said we couldn't. So, we came here."

"How?" Claus asked.

"Well, it's a bit hard to explain. You see, the world was in chaos during our time." Chris said.

"Your time?" Lucas and Claus asked.

"We're from the exact same era as you," Risk said. "Only far more damaged. There was turmoil that happened not too long ago. The world was being destroyed from our stupid mistakes and a certain number of people were allowed to go on something called the White Ship. That was just about everyone who lives in Tazmily now. But this was about ten or twenty years ago, and despite being almost destroyed, the nation decided we had to start fresh while we still had time.

"We pretended that the damage wasn't there. We pretended we were all the ones not allowed for a new chance. After all the trouble with that horrible teacher, since our society was so far advanced, we had the ability to time-travel. We had our own time machine and used it to escape to Ninten's time. We lived in Merrysville for some time until Ninten caused the time eras to merge. We thought it was ordinary, but that one day, when you were questioning Ninten, Claus, I realized it wasn't. Anyway, when they merged, we waited before deciding to move to Tazmily."

"We always regret running away, so we decided the day before the school year started… to simply mask our pain and, maybe, in time, share our story so we could stop acting." Chris said, finally finishing the long story.

"You guys have been through a lot, haven't you," Claus said. Chris nodded her head slowly. Claus couldn't help it. He hugged Chris lightly.

"… I'm sorry," Claus said quietly.

"You don't have to be… Please, I'm fine," she said, but she stayed in Claus' hug.

"Risk, actually, when are we going to look for Hoshi again?" Chris asked, turning towards her twin.

"We should try during the weekend," Risk said.

"Ok," Chris said, turning back to Claus. "U-Uh… Claus…"

"Yeah?" Claus asked, starting to stroke a bit of Chris' hair.

"By any chance, is Richie over you?"

"I… I don't know. I haven't talked to her in awhile and Fuel was upset when he heard that we broke up."

"What? Why?" Lucas asked.

"Apparently, since Richie was busy, Angie didn't have anyone to talk to, so Fuel used it as a chance to talk to her," Claus said.

"So, he basically caused Richie more pain by trying to get with Angie?" Risk asked.

"Sounds like it," Chris said.

"It was hilarious, because Richie blamed Fuel for it so Angie stopped talking to him for awhile," Claus said. The four laughed. "So, why'd you want to know?" Claus asked Chris.

"Well, she still glares at me like she hates me when I walk by her sometimes. I've tried being nice to her, but she just ignores me," Chris said.

"Well, she was needy."

"So… Richie's single?" Risk asked, suddenly getting back to the topic of him being single. Claus and Chris glared at him, both saying telepathically to stop before they murdered him.

"We should all get home. We have a really, really long weekend," Chris said.

"They're going to spend a lot of time remodeling that classroom," Lucas said, standing up.

"Okay, bye guys," Chris and Risk said to Lucas and Claus.

"Bye," the other two twins said.

…

*sigh* Really short, but still a lot of details :D OH NOES! My report card came!


	21. Explore

**HAS IT REALLY BEEN THAT LONG SINCE I UPDATED? Holy Shion! I'm so sorry, guys! But…**

**Sadly, I am grounded! No internets on my computer! (TT^TT) I can still see the reviews and stuff on my phone, but I can't update. My friend PerfectPhoenix is uploading them for me. Please check out his fan fictions. That's all for this part. Now to start the chapter! I'll also explain what happened with the Principal in this.**

…

"Claus… I didn't want to say anything over there with Chris and Risk, but if this stuff about the White Ship is true, do you think Mom and Dad remember? Risk said everyone currently in Tazmily were the people who were allowed to go on the White Ship," Lucas said.

"I was thinking that, too. I'm scared that Mom and Dad might actually know about it. It must be painful to remember," Claus said.

"Well… do you think we should ask them?"

"Not now. It's late and we have a long '_break_.' We should ask when we get the chance."

"Maybe we should ask them when both of them are home? Mom's always helping Tessie at the Inn and Dad always has to tend the sheep."

"That's true. Ugh, I'm tired, Lucas. It's been a long day."

"We should go to sleep," Lucas said. With that, both twins changed into their pajamas and went into their separate bunk beds.

…

"Ooh, this is frustrating," Alex said, pounding the table.

"King P, when are we going to conduct the plan?" Carlos asked.

"As soon as those losers finish building their time machine. I heard that stupid fat scientist saying he was going to call it the Phase Distorter or something like that, and I want to use it," Pokey said.

"But then what will happen if we don't get to it in time?" Danny asked.

"Oh, we will… we will…" Pokey said menacingly.

…

"Boys, wake up," Hinawa called. Claus groaned. Lucas yawned but got up.

"Claus, come on, wake up," Lucas said with a yawn.

"Ugh, five more minutes," Claus muttered, pulling the blankets over him. Lucas sighed.

"Hey, Mom, what's for breakfast?" Lucas asked.

"Omelets," Hinawa replied. Sure enough, Claus' eyes widened as he jumped out of bed, falling onto the floor.

"Oof!" Claus said as he landed, but got up and ran downstairs. Lucas sweat dropped as he followed his twin.

…

"The omelets are as amazing as always, mom," Lucas said, about to take another bite of his second omelet.

"Yeah, mom, real good," Claus said, his mouth full.

"You two never get tired of it, do you?" Hinawa asked, putting her hand to her mouth as she giggled at her sons.

"Nope," Claus said eagerly. "I hope you don't get tired of making them!"

"Don't worry, I won't."

Hinawa stayed quiet for awhile as Lucas and Claus ate their omelets.

"Hey… boys, I was thinking… since you don't have school anymore, how about we take a trip to your Grandpa Alec's house a little early this year?"

"What? Really?" Lucas asked, excited.

"Yeah, but maybe not until next month or so; It's too cold to go up there," Hinawa said, ruffling Lucas' hair before fixing it.

"Mm, I don't know, Mom. My friend was planning on having a party around that time," Claus said.

"Well, then how about sometime in March or April, then? By then it'll start getting warmer and you can still go to your friend's party," Hinawa suggested.

"Well… I guess that's fair," Lucas said.

"Which friend is this, anyway?" Hinawa asked.

"Ninten," Lucas and Claus said unanimously.

"Oh, that boy with the red bandana? He seems nice."

"Yeah, he's loads of fun," Claus said sarcastically. Lucas laughed.

"You're only saying that because he interrupted you when you were going to try and ask Chris out again," Lucas said. This struck a nerve in Claus as he got up and started chasing Lucas, who was faster than Claus.

"Chris is that girl who accidentally froze you two a while back, right?" Hinawa asked when Claus got tired of chasing Lucas.

"Yeah," Claus said gruffly, sitting down.

"Well, she's sweet and I think you would be a great match for her," Hinawa said. Claus blushed at this as he continued to eat his omelets. Lucas stayed quiet as he went to his mother.

"Hey, Mom… do you know anything about something called the White Ship?" He asked. Claus' eyes widened.

'_I thought we were going to wait,_' Claus said telepathically in his twin's head.

'_It slipped_,' Lucas said telepathically.

"The White Ship? …Where did you boys hear about this?" Hinawa asked.

"Our friend Chris and her brother," Lucas said. They were too far in to change the subject. Hinawa stayed quiet for some time.

"I've… never heard of it, boys. I'm sorry," Hinawa finally said, standing up and leaving. "I have to go to the Inn," Hinawa said as she closed the door.

"Mom was acting weird," Claus said.

"Maybe she really doesn't know much about it," Lucas said. "You know Mom wouldn't lie to us."

Claus sighed.

"Well, why wouldn't she? We've been on the islands all our lives, and if Chris and Risk's story is true, Mom should know."

"Unless they didn't want it to happen again," Lucas said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, maybe that's what that man Fassad is doing. Trying to get people to repeat what caused the world to go into destruction."

"If he is, it makes me want to punch him even more. Chris and Risk were tormented by it, and if Mom and Dad were, too, I don't want them to suffer again," Claus said, clenching his fists.

"We… we have to get people to stop buying those Happy Boxes," Lucas said.

"Right," Claus said as he ran upstairs to put his shoes on.

…

"Chris, are you still thinking the Principal's weird?" Risk asked as he lied in his bed.

"Risk, not this again. It was bad enough when I found you stranded with no memory the first time, but I really think five times is enough. You'll get sick," Chris said as she remembered what happened. She was sitting on the floor of their room writing on some papers.

"So, we should just ignore it?"

"For now. Right now, we really should focus on helping Ninten's party. He said he wanted to have it right before he left, right? Ana told me they plan on leaving before the month ends, so we need to make the party memorable."

"Yeah, we should do that."

"Ok, let's start planning," Chris said, clasping her hands. Risk laughed at his sister's antics and got up from his bed.

…

Lucas and Claus were walking to Fuel's house. They decided to hang out since they hadn't in a while.

"So… you sure we should invite Fuel to Ninten's party?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, I don't see why not. It's so everyone could have a chance to party one last time before we set everything straight," Claus said. His thoughts drifted to Chris' story from the day before.

'_I wonder what's gonna happen to her…_' Claus thought. He still really liked Chris, and if she did end up leaving Tazmily… Claus shook the thought away.

"You shouldn't worry about her," Lucas suddenly said, Claus jumped, having spaced out for a longer period of time than he thought. The twins were already at Fuel's house.

"Well, why not?" Claus asked. It was a stupid question to ask.

"Risk said they're from our time period, and they moved _before_ Ninten merged the time eras, so she should be safe," Lucas explained. Claus was confused, but Lucas proceeded to knock on Fuel's door.

"Oh, hello, boys," Lighter said as he answered the door.

"Hi, Lighter. Is Fuel here?" Claus asked.

"Yeah, I'll get him right now," Lighter said, going back inside his house.

"Thanks," Lucas said loudly as Lighter walked away from them. The two stood there for awhile before Fuel came out.

"Hey, guys," Fuel said as he got to the door.

"Hey. Ready?" Claus asked.

"Yeah, let me just get something real fast," Fuel said, going back inside.

"Well, that's gonna take awhile," Claus muttered under his breath. Lucas sighed/

"Why are you acting so impatient?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not being impatient," Claus said which made Lucas sweat drop.

"Ok, I'm ready," Fuel said, coming back and closing the door behind.

"It's about time," Claus joked. The two walked around the village for a little bit.

"Fassad…" Lucas said. He was still trying to convince people to use the happy boxes and he continued to mention money.

"I don't know, guys. Those Happy Boxes look kinda cool," Fuel said.

"Well, I think they look stupid," Claus said flatly.

"Whatever," Fuel said.

"U-Uh, why don't we get Nichol and hang out with him, too?" Lucas asked, trying to break the tension.

"Fine," Fuel said. Claus growled. Nichol was Richie's brother. So Fuel and Lucas went to ask Richie where Nichol was while Claus stood by a tree with his arms crossed. From there, Claus could see Richie glancing at Claus with almost every other word she said. Claus sighed and turned the other way. He saw Chris and Risk's house not too far from there and he remembered the night he yelled at Chris…

"Hey, Claus," Nichol said, walking with Fuel and Lucas, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Nichol," Claus said, greeting his friend. He saw Richie staring at him for a few seconds before going back into her home.

"So, where do you guys wanna go?" Fuel asked.

"Actually, a friend of mine is having a party in a few weeks," Lucas said, "and he said he'd need all the help he can get. Once, he planned a surprise birthday party for his girlfriend, Ana, but…"

"Let's just say Ana had to wear her hat for a long time while her hair grew back," Claus said. Fuel and Nichol looked shocked.

"Don't worry, she's fine, now, but she doesn't let Ninten plan any parties by himself anymore," Claus said, laughing. Fuel and Nichol sweat dropped.

"Hey, Fuel, how's it going with Angie?" Lucas asked.

"She's lightened up recently, but she's still mad at me for trying to play matchmaker," Fuel said.

"Heh, well, you'll get her some day," Nichol said, pushing up his glasses. Fuel smiled.

"So, where's the party, exactly?" Fuel asked Claus.

"Uh… I'm not sure, but my friends Risk and Chris are also planning it, so maybe we should go see them and I can go find Ninten?" Lucas suggested.

"Oh, you mean the Poname twins?" Furl asked. Claus nodded his head.

"Yeah, actually, that Chris girl is pretty damn ho-" Fuel was stopped midsentence when Claus grabbed the collar of Fuel's shirt tightly and stared at Fuel straight in the face. Fuel was

"Back off… she's mine," Claus said in a menacing voice and putting emphasis on 'mine.'

Fuel sweat dropped at this and remained silent in fear. Lucas and Nichol also sweat dropped before Claus let go of Fuel.

"So, we're going to the Poname house?" Claus asked as if nothing had happened. That's what truly scared Fuel the most.

…

"Hey, Risk. Hey, Chris," Lucas said as he entered the home with Claus, Fuel and Nichol following him.

"Hi, Lucas. Our parents are helping out in the village right now," Risk said. Claus was still keeping an eye out for Fuel, who didn't dare go near Chris.

"Oh, ok. Oh! Hey, actually, Risk can you help me find Ninten?" Lucas asked, leading the twin outside.

"Uh, doesn't Ninten live all the way in Podunk?" Risk asked. Lucas nodded.

"Yeah, I need you to teleport me there. Fuel and Nichol don't know where Ninten lives, so for all they know, he could live in Dallam," Lucas explained. Risk laughed.

"Yeah, I'll help you. Wait, let me just tell Chris real fast," Risk said, going back inside while Lucas waited.

"Hey, Chris," Risk said as he went to his sister, who was busy writing some ideas.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I'm heading out with Lucas to go get Ninten. I'll be right back." Risk leaned closer to his sister, putting his mouth next to her ear. "Make sure nothing goes wrong while you're here with three guys," Risk whispered.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Chris whispered back. With that, Risk and Lucas teleported to Podunk while Chris explained what she had planned from what Ninten had asked.

…

"Lucas, wait. I've never been to Podunk. How are we supposed to get there?" Risk asked.

"Oh, that's easy. You and your family used to live in Merrysville, right? Just teleport us there and if Loid's there, he can take us to Ninten," Lucas explained, smiling.

"That's a smart idea, Lucas. No wonder Nana's always talking nonstop about you whenever Chris and I see her," Risk said, snickering. The two teleported to Merrysville and tried to talk telepathically to Loid.

'_Loid? Where are you?_' Lucas asked telepathically. He focused on Loid and he was standing right outside Twinkle Elementary School.

Loid explained that the reason he had still been in Elementary school was because his father had never supported Loid enough and was disgraced that such a "weenie was his own flesh and blood," leaving Loid to live in the Elementary school. Loid managed to convince the staff to let him stay by being a Teacher's Assistant for the Science Department.

'_Lucas? Are you guys here?_' Loid asked.

'_Yeah, me and Lucas,_' Risk said telepathically.

'_Oh, well, hi. What's up?_'

'_We need to get to Podunk. Risk knows Teleport, but he's never been there. Can you come out?_' Lucas asked.

'Yeah, I'll be outside right now,' Loid said telepathically. In a few minutes, he was running outside to see Risk and Lucas.

"Hey, Loid," Risk greeted, finally able to talk normally.

"Hi, guys," Loid said, laughing. "Wait, Lucas, didn't you go to Ninten's house a few months ago?"

"Yeah, but I only went once, so I'm not sure where it is, hehe," Lucas said, laughing nervously.

"Well, don't worry. I'm Ninten's best friend." With that, Loid, Lucas and Risk started their long walk to Ninten's house.

…

"Uhm… Claus?" Chris said nervously.

What's up, Chris?" Claus asked, putting his arm around Chris' shoulders, who stared nervously at him.

"Uh… why is your friend Fuel avoiding me?"

"Oh… uh… I don't know. I'll go talk to him," Claus said, moving his arm and going to the next room.

"So, Nichol… how's Richie?" Chris asked, trying to make small talk.

"She's been doing ok. Why do you ask?" Nichol asked.

"Well… she seems pretty sad sometimes," Chris said.

"Oh, don't worry. She'll get over it soon. She always does. You just need to get to know her, that's all."

"Yeah, but she's always ignoring me. I don't know if we can ever be friends."

"Well, I'll invite her to... Ness' party, was it?"

"Ninten's," Chris corrected.

"Oh, sorry. Those two look so alike. It's almost like they're related," Nichol joked.

"You have no idea," Chris said, laughing.

"Say, why is Ninten having a party anyway?" Fuel asked, coming in with Claus.

"Oh, to, you know, get all our friends together and hang out," Claus said.

"Oh… well, if you say so," Fuel said, unsure.

"Hi, Fuel," Chris said, smiling. Fuel smiled nervously as Claus glared at him from behind Chris.

"Uh, h-hi Chris," Fuel said. Claus continued to glare. "S-So, what are you trying to plan?"

"Well, the main issue is figuring out where it's going to be."

"How _do_ we know where it's going to be?" Nichol asked.

"That's what Risk and I have been trying to figure out all day," Chris admitted. The four pondered in thought as they tried to think of a place to have the party.

"Wait! We can go to the beach," Nichol suggested. Chris and Claus sweat-dropped at the memory of their separate dates with Richie and Danny had gone wrong.

"Uh… I'm not sure that's a good idea," Claus said. He and Chris were still sore on the subject.

"W-Why don't we go somewhere in Eagleland? I heard there were a lot of great party places," Chris suggested.

"Well, where in Eagleland?" Nichol asked.

"I've never been there…"

"Well, now what?" Fuel asked grimly.

…

"Ninten," Loid said, knocking on the door. He, Lucas and Risk had spent about an hour and a half walking to Podunk, which was relatively fast considering Risk and Loid raced while Lucas was forced to catch up with them.

Someone answered the door, but it wasn't Ninten. It was Ninten's younger sister, Minnie.

"Loid?" she asked.

"Hi, Minnie. Is Ninten home?" Loid asked.

"Yes, he is, but he's trying to help Mimmie fix her old doll."

"Ninten helps make… dolls?" Risk asked, shocked.

"He's not the best at it, but he still does his best to help his younger twin sisters, hehe," Minnie said, showing a toothy smile.

"Can we come in, Minnie?" Lucas asked.

"Ah, of course," Minnie said, letting the three teenage boys inside her house.

"So, where's Ninten?" Risk asked.

"Uh, follow me," Minnie said, blushing slightly. Risk raised his eyebrow at that.

"Ninten, your friends are here," Minnie said, knocking on her shared room door. What Lucas, Risk and Loid saw made them never be able to look at their friend the same way again.

Ninten was trying to figure out where to stitch the dress of the doll. Mimmie, Minnie's twin, was sitting next to him.

"G-Guys, what are you doing here?" Ninten asked, flustered at their surprise visit.

"Ninten… you…" Loid gave in. He burst into laughter.

"Sh-shut up! I'm trying to be nice to my sister," Ninten yelled. He got up and glared viciously at Loid, who was still laughing.

"I-It's ok, Ninten, I can finish from here," Mimmie said, taking the doll from her older brother.

"Yeah, I think our older brother has been embarrassed enough today," Minnie said, going to her siblings. Ninten sighed and walked over to his friends.

"What's up, guys?" Ninten asked gruffly.

"Uh, Ninten, we need help with the party planning," Risk said. He resisted every urge to laugh at Ninten. Lucas smiled every here and then, but hid it by pretending to cough.

"Oh, right. Is Chris still working on it? I feel bad since I wasn't specific with the details," Ninten said.

"Yeah, she's with Claus and two of our friends we invited," Lucas said.

"Oh, ok. Should we go, then?" Ninten asked.

"Sure," Risk said.

"Mimmie, Minnie, I'm leaving now. If mom asks, tell her I went to go see my friends, ok?" Ninten said to his sisters.

"Yeah, we got it," Mimmie said.

"Ok, bye. Love you," Ninten said, exiting the house with Loid, Lucas and Risk.

"Wow, Ninten, I've never seen this soft of a side of you," Risk said, laughing now.

"Hey!" Ninten punched Risk in the shoulder. He did the same to Loid, who screamed girlishly (A/N: yes, it's a word!).

"Hey, watch it! I'm teleporting us back to Tazmily," Risk said. The four teleported to Tazmily Village.

…

"Gah! I have no clue where the party should be," Claus yelled, frustrated. The four still had no idea where they could have the party.

"Where are Risk and Lucas?" Chris said quietly.

"And Ninten? It's his party, he should be doing this," Claus said.

"I agree. We skipped that over an hour ago and already decided what food we'd bring…. So why can't we freaking decide where it should be?" Chris whined and moaned loudly. She actually fell out of her chair and onto the floor, but she insisted that the others leave her there. After a few minutes, Lucas, Risk, Ninten and Loid knocked and entered the room.

"Oh, finally," Claus yelled.

"Uh…" Loid said, clearly confused.

"We're stumped," Chris said.

"Completely," Fuel said.

"Well, should we get started?" Risk suggested.

"Yes," Claus, Chris, Fuel and Nichol yelled all at once.

"Great, well, what do we need to figure out first?" Lucas asked.

"Where it's going to be," Claus said. "We've been thinking for hours and nothing."

"Well, why not in Ellay? I know this place where my friend sings, and it'd be really fun," Ninten suggested.

"Wait, Ninten, isn't that how you got arrest-?" Loid started, but was cut off.

"Aah, they don't need to know about that, Loid!"

"But, isn't it crucial that-?"

"Ok, that's enough Loid!"

Everyone sweat-dropped at this.

"Well, wait, Ninten, can I ask you something about food? It's in the kitchen," Chris said, leading Ninten downstairs her house.

"What's up, Chris?" Ninten asked.

"Well, I was thinking, since the Phase Distorter is in Foggyland, which is by Onett, why don't we ask Ness if it can be at his house?"

"Do you think we should?"

"Well, why not?"

"Hmm, I'll ask him later. So, what about that food?"

"Uh… I was wondering what soda we should get."

"I dunno, anything good."

"Whatever, it's your party."

With that, the two PSI users returned upstairs.

"Alright, Ninten has the location covered. We can stop now," Chris said, standing next to Claus.

"Awesome," Claus said.

"Damn, what time is it?" Fuel asked, yawning.

"Whoa, it's already six," Risk said, staring at his watch.

"What? Aw, man, I gotta go, guys," Fuel said. He and Nichol left.

"Now what?" Lucas asked.

"Well, I think we're ready to have that party," Claus said.

"Yeah, but the sooner we have it, the faster we're going to leave," Ninten said sadly. "I'm gonna miss you guys…"

"Hey, man, you're not leaving yet," Claus said.

"That's right, we still have some time before you and everyone else actually leave," Lucas said.

"Well, yeah, but it's in two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Claus asked.

"Yeah, I don't have much time left."

"Man, its February!" Claus yelled.

"It'll be March real soon," Chris said.

"Besides, we really should get this done already," Loid said.

"Alright. Two weeks," Ninten said. The friends all agreed and went to their separate homes, mind Chris and Risk.

"It's going to be a long two weeks, isn't it?" Claus said to himself.

…

"It's already been two weeks?" Claus shrieked.

"Yeah, Claus, I told you it'd pass by fast," Lucas said, chuckling. Claus sighed.

"The party's tonight. You gonna ask Nana to go?" Claus asked his twin.

"Yeah, I figured she'd like it. What about you?"

"… What do you mean?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Nope."

"Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Sure."

Lucas sighed.

"Are you going with Chris?"

"Well, we're both going, so I guess so."

Lucas slapped his forehead.

"Never mind, Claus!"

Claus stared at his twin, clearly confused, but he brushed it off.

"Hi, boys," Hinawa said when she saw her twin sons come downstairs.

"Hi," Claus said.

"Hey, Mom, when are we going to Grandpa Alec's?" Lucas asked.

"Hm, I was thinking we should go by the end of the week. We've put it off to much," Hinawa said. Flint came in.

"Morning, darling," Flint said, hugging Hinawa from behind.

"Dad… its one pm," Claus said.

"Oh, is it? I've been so tired from work," Flint said, yawning.

"It'd ok," Lucas said.

"You want some lunch?" Hinawa asked.

"Aw, yes," Claus said.

"I was asking your father, but I'll make something for you boys," Hinawa said, giggling.

"That's ok, Mom. I'm not hungry," Lucas said.

"Well, I am," Claus said. Hinawa burst out laughing.

"Alright, Claus, I'll make you something! Why don't you go see your friends?"

The twin brothers went outside and walked around when they heard one of Fassad's speeches again.

Claus sighed and Lucas shook his head.

"Let's go see Risk and Chris, ok?" Lucas said, taking Claus to the tree that the friends usually met up at. Risk, Chris, and Nana were there.

"Hi, Lucas," Nana said, running up to the blonde and hugging him. Lucas hugged back and the couple walked to another tree, Nana chatting about strange instruments she read about.

"Hey, Claus," Chris said. Risk waved.

"Hi, guys. You ready for Ninten's party?"

"Oh, Mr. Saturn, no. It's been so much fun hanging out with him and everyone else," Chris said. Claus sat next to her.

"Yeah, it has. Tomorrow, they'll set off the Phase Distorter, and we'll never see them again," Claus said.

"Man, I wish it didn't have to be like this," Risk said.

The three sat there, listening to Lucas and Nana talk, but not paying much attention.

"Hey, Claus… what if… what if Risk and I are affected by the Phase Distorter?" Chris asked.

"You can't be. You said so yourself, it shouldn't work," Claus said, staring at the girl, who frowned.

"Yeah, but what if I'm wrong?"

"You won't be. I'll make sure of it," Claus said, leaning in to kiss Chris, but Risk cleared his throat, interrupting the two.

"Hey, I'm here, too, you know," Risk said.

"Sorry, Risk," Chris said. She smiled at Claus, who was still inches away from her. Hey smiled back, hugging the girl.

"Hey, do you want to go the party together?" Chris asked.

"You mean, just go together?"

"Huh? No, I mean, like as in us two go and spend time together."

"I dunno, I'm worried Richie will try to do something."

Chris glared at Claus.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Chris huffed.

"Told you," Lucas called from the other tree. He and Nana went back to their friends.

"So, really, are you two dating yet?" Nana asked, her hand resting on her hip.

"I tried to ask him out right now," Chris said. Claus gagged.

"Are you serious?" he gasped.

"Wow, you're dense," Risk said, laughing. Everyone laughed except for Claus, who groaned.

"Alright, so how long until the party?" Lucas asked.

"Well, its 2 right now and Ninten said something about 8, so… we have a lot of time," Risk said.

"A lot," Claus accented.

"What should we do?" Lucas asked.

"Let's go… explore, or something," Chris said.

"Explore?" Claus asked.

"Yeah, just wander around Tazmily until we find something interesting," Chris explained.

"Eh, alright," Risk said, standing up.

…

The five walked around for about ten minutes until they ran into Angie and Fuel.

"Hey, guys," Angie said.

"Hi, Ange," Nana said.

"Are you two going to Ninten's party in Onett?" Claus asked.

"Yeah," Fuel said.

"Sweet," Risk said.

"Well, we have to go. It was nice seeing you guys," Angie said.

"You too," Chris said as they all walked separate ways.

"Alright, now what?" Claus asked.

"Now, you stop complaining," Chris joked. Claus smiled slightly.

"Ok, so, really, what should we do?" Risk asked. A loud grumbling noise came from Chris.

"Uh… I'm kind of hungry…" Chris admitted.

"Then let's go to the Inn. Maybe Tessie has some food," Nana said.

…

After they all ate and walked around for a while, the five went back to their tree area.

"Risk, what time is it?" Lucas asked.

"Four."

"Aw!"

"I guess we should get ready and just catch the boat to Onett and hang out with them a little longer," Lucas said, so they all left to change.

…

"Alright, Nana and Risk helped me pack these sandwiches," Chris said, handing half of them to Claus. She was wearing her usual dark grey shorts, but instead of her dark teal and white shirt, she had a light teal v-neck shirt. Claus was wearing his usual clothes too, only he had a plain light grey zip-up jacket.

"Hey, where are Risk and Nana?" Claus asked.

"They're getting some soda. We don't need a lot, since for the food we decided to make it a potluck," Chris explained.

"Awesome. Did you and Nana make the sandwiches?"

"Yeah, but, I mean, it's not like crazy fancy chancy cooking with… fire…"

"You know, Chris, I never found out what your fears were," Claus said, staring at Chris, who became suddenly uncomfortable.

"Hm? Oh… uh, well, I can't exactly tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's embarrassing!"

"Come on, tell me! If it's that embarrassing, I'll keep it a secret. I can be rude sometimes, but I hate when people make fun of my friends."

"Oh… Fine, I'll tell you."

"Thanks."

"Well… ghosts."

"What?"

"I'm terrified of ghosts! Ever since I was little! Risk scared me by pretending to be one and I… fell down some stairs and… I'm pretty much traumatized!"

"You fell down stairs?"

"Risk didn't mean it, we were young, but… it really wasn't a lot. I honestly don't remember where I was at the time."

"Oh. Well, anything else?"

"Uh… Hm, well, I'm kind of scared of fire."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My mom was burned once when she was around our age and she has a scar. When I saw it, and thought of how she could possibly face fire, I got scared. That's… mainly the reason I can't cook."

"You panic around the fire…"

"Yeah, and my mind goes blank, so there's always danger."

"Well, I can help you with that. Just stick with me, Chris, and you'll do fine."

"… Thank you, Claus."

"Yeah."

"… So what are your fears?"

"Ah! Don't get me started!"

Chris laughed as Lucas walked over to them with Nana. Risk was walking behind them, carrying some sodas.

"Hey, ready to go?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah," Chris and Claus said.

…

**Ugh, that was frustrating. I'm so sorry this took forever, guys! School just completely threw off my schedule! I was originally going to include the party scene here, but I'll just put it with what else I have planned. Well, it looks like SchoolBound is (slowly)coming to an end, everyone. I'm sad about it, but I really need to focus on school… wait, wha? I'll write when I have time, but again, my schedule's been filled up. Updates might be slower. Please vote on the poll!**

**Review, please! You might get an early update and you'll also make this sad little girl very happy!**

**~Rika**


	22. Lucky?

**Hiyah, guys! So, I finished watching the anime Soul Eater, and it was amazing. MakaXSoul forever! (Hey, she's pretty much naked when she's trying to save him from the madness of the Black Blood!) Anyway, it got me in a seriously action-y mood, so get ready for another fight! I have CSTS this week, so how I possibly managed to finish this, I'll never know. I also came up with a far better reason for Chris' fear of **_**F-F-F-F-Fire!**_** (I **_**had**_** to!)**

…

Claus knocked on the door of Ness' house. He was with Chris, Lucas, Nana and Risk.

"Hey, open up already, will ya?" Claus said as he continued to knock. Lucas sighed at this. Ness opened the door, almost getting hit by Claus, who had still been knocking.

"Hey, watch it," Ness said, chuckling.

"Sorry, man. So are Ninten and everyone else here yet?" Claus asked.

"Nope, not yet," Ness said. "Well, actually, Paula and Poo are here."

"Why don't you all help set up? We're nowhere near ready," Paula joked.

With that, the five went and helped set up the food, cleared the rooms so people would have places to dance and sit and set up chairs for people. Ninten, Loid and Jeff came during this and also helped, Ninten apologizing for being so late and the three also bringing bags filled with soda. The count was at least 20 or so bottles of soda, but Lucas and Nana gasped when they heard it wouldn't be enough. Ness also had to teleport to the nearest store to get some bags of chips, returning in about eight minutes.

"Alright, that took off a good half hour," Risk said, wiping his hands.

"What time is it, Risk?" Chris asked, grabbing Risk's arm so she could see the watch.

"Hey, let me see," Risk said, pulling his wrist back. "It is 7:25."

"So that just leaves Teddy, Ana, Duster and Kumatora, eh?" Poo asked.

"Uh-huh," Paula said, smiling.

"Paula, I really don't wanna be the sad sack of the group, but I just realized I talked with you and Poo the least," Chris admitted.

"Hey, you're right," Paula said.

"Yeah, you are," Poo said. He suddenly got in front of Chris and grabbed her hands.

"Chris, I still have that offer for you to date me open. So what do you say? Make these last days meaningful?" Poo asked dramatically. Chris stared at Poo nervously while Claus shot him a death glare. But ultimately, it was Risk who punched Poo away from his sister.

"What's up with all these guys hitting on my sister?" Risk joked. Chris stared at her twin nervously while Lucas poked Poo to see if he was breathing. Someone knocked on the door, so Ness and Ninten went to go see who it was.

"Risk, I really can't see how you don't have a girlfriend yet," Paula said, laughing.

"Yeah, Risk," Poo said, rubbing his face and sitting down on Ness' couch. "You sure pack a powerful punch."

"Well, we had to find some way to defend ourselves, right?" Chris said with her arms behind her back.

"What do you mean by that?" Jeff asked.

"Well, Risk and I didn't exactly live in the safest place, you know. Lucas and Claus already know, but you guys don't. Risk and I are kinda like time travelers, only we got trapped in this time and we lived in an alternate Tazmily. Corruption struck the world and people were killed left and right," Chris said. Jeff and Poo stared, eyes wide. Paula looked horrified.

"Yeah, there wasn't a day when someone tried to steal money or food from us. Because we couldn't fight well, our stuff was stolen easily and we were left hungry every day when we got home from school," Risk said.

"So Risk and I took an optional Training class at our school so we could fight and stop getting mugged," Chris said.

"Hey, remember that time that guy tried to steal my wallet?"

"Yeah, and you only had, like, what, 50 cents in there?"

Everyone stared at the twins awkwardly, not sure how to respond.

"Wow, it sounded like it was rough there," Loid said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah, coming here was definitely one of our best decisions," Risk said. He and Chris sat down while Ninten returned with Ana, Teddy and Duster, who chatted with their friends for several minutes while Ness came some time later with several other people.

"Alright, let's get this party started," one person shouted. Music suddenly started playing, and kids were dancing everywhere, causing the PSI kids to join along.

…

Claus was going to try and get Chris to dance with him, but he somehow lost her in all the confusion. He saw her talking to Pippi, so he just let it be, hoping no other guys tried to flirt with her... wait, if he just left her alone, who knew what kind of guys would try and steal her away?

Claus tried to make his way through the dancing crowd of people to try and get to her. Unfortunately, he was stopped by a blonde girl who looked like she had too much soda (who knows how old these kids/teens are?).

"Hi," she said, giggling.

"Uh, hi," Claus said, trying to get away from her.

"Wait," the blonde said, gasping and grabbing Claus' arm.

"I really need to go," Claus said, trying to get out of her grip.

"You're cute," The girl said, pulling Claus closer to her.

"Uh… thank you?"

"Want to hear a funny story?"

"Well, no-"

"Ok, so once, there was a man…"

…

"Yeah, and I said…" Pippi seemed to be telling a very strange story when Chris noticed something in the crowd of [former] students dancing. There was a blonde girl talking to Claus. She was laughing a lot. Were they… _flirting_?

'_I think they're _flirting_! Those little…_' Chris thought angrily as she watched the two talking. Claus actually looked a bit uncomfortable, but he laughed at something, too.

"Chris, hey Chris," someone said, snapping their fingers next to Chris' ear.

"Huh? What?" Chris mumbled, breaking from the trance. She turned to whoever addressed her.

"You were staring out into space," Rebecca said. She had been in Chris' Physical Education class before the school had been closed down. She had olive green eyes, inhumane silver-grey colored hair in a ponytail with some hair falling out on the side, a pair of orange tinted sunglasses, a white and purple striped t-shirt, a black skirt with neon orange leggings that only reached a small amount past her knee, white tennis shoes and a light blue jacket.

"I was? Oh, sorry," Chris said, laughing as she drank some more fizzy soda.

"Hey, you keep looking at Claus," Rebecca pointed out.

"Uh, yeah, you know, I do that whenever I know someone, like Claus or… Ana. I dunno why," Chris made up.

"Say, are you two dating? I'm only asking because I always see you two together, but, who am I to say?" Chris almost spat out her drink, but made it look like she just drank too much soda too fast.

"Yeah, I mean we're just close friends, hehe! Can we talk about something else, please?"

"Hey, is he flirting with Janie?" Rebecca said, pointing to the blonde girl, Janie.

"Is he?" Chris asked quickly, turning around and seeing what was going on. Rebecca smiled smugly to herself as she turned to talk to Pippi.

'_Hey, he _is_ flirting with her_,' Chris thought angrily. She growled.

"I'll be right back," Chris said. She formed a plan in her head. It was too perfect. She quickly ran over to Claus, almost tackling him and yelling his name, knocking her drink all over Janie.

"Wah! What the hell," Janie shrieked. She had been wearing a simple thin pink shirt, so now it was stained brown from the soda.

"Oh, clumsy me," Chris said sarcastically. "Hey, Claus, have you met my friend Rebecca?" Chris asked, quickly leading the boy away from Janie, whose friends were trying to help her get rid of the stain. Chris smiled to herself.

"Hey, thanks for getting me out of there. I thought she would never let me leave," Claus said. Chris frowned. She turned away from Claus, not looking him in the eye.

"Claus, I have to say, I really like you, so for a second, I was kinda scared you were flirting with that chick," Chris said shyly.

"Wait, you were jealous?" Claus asked with a smug look on his face.

"No," Chris quickly snapped. Claus laughed at this.

"Heh, ok, whatever…"

Claus and Chris went the Ness' backyard, which was big enough to let a lot of people be out there but still have unheard conversations.

"This is a really good party," Claus said.

"Yeah, but now I don't have any more soda," Chris said, giggling. Claus started chuckling, making Chris laugh, making Claus laugh back, causing both teens to burst out laughing.

"Hey, do you want me to get us some soda?" Claus asked, offering Chris his hand.

"I'll go with you. I don't want anyone else trying to flirt with you," Chris said, taking Claus' hand as the two went inside and made their way through all the teens standing around or dancing.

Claus saw Ness yelling at some idiots standing on the kitchen table to "put the cheese-spray can down," or some crazy thing like that. They refilled their drinks and walked over to where Rebecca had been.

"Hi, Chris. Hi, Claus," Rebecca said.

"Hi," Chris said. "Hey, Rebecca, where'd Pippi go?"

"Oh, she went to go hang out with Loid. Wow, I'm glad Ninten decided to have this party. Everyone needs to hang out again, though," Rebecca said. Chris and Claus sweat-dropped, remembering how this was the last day they'd ever hang out with their friends from school.

"Yeah, we're having a really fun time," Risk said, butting into the conversation to try and save it.

"Hey, Risk, how long have you been standing there?" Claus asked.

"Well, I was trying to ask some girls out when I remembered that… that we all lived l-long distances, so it'd be d-difficult to start a relationship," Risk said, suddenly remembering Rebecca had no idea about the Phase Distorter.

"Well, I guess that must be pretty lucky for you, eh?" Claus said. Chris shot him a death glare.

"Whatever, Santa Claus, I don't care," Risk teased.

"Oh, not that nickname again. My name's not even pronounced like that," Claus whined.

"Is the nickname that bad to you?" Chris asked.

"Yes. I hate it! I'm not some fat man who creeps into people's houses once a year, leaves gifts, steals cookies and leaves!"

Everyone around Claus (which had been a lot) burst out laughing. Claus growled, but sighed when he saw Chris laughing, barely able to stand. The laughter died down and everyone returned to what they were doing. A song came up, and it had an energetic beat. Claus didn't know much about music, so it was all new to him. He liked this music, though.

"Hey, Rebecca, want to dance?" Risk asked.

"M-Me? Uh, sure," Rebecca said, flustered. The two went and started dancing together. Chris smiled as she watched her younger twin having a good time. Claus stared at Chris nervously, wondering if he should've asked her. Unknown to him, Chris noticed this.

"Hey, let's dance," Chris said, smiling and pulling Claus to where everyone was dancing.

"Wait, I don't know how to dance," Claus yelled, but he tried his best. When a beat would come in a rhythm, sounding like a clap, Claus noticed that most of the people dancing would go and actually clap to it. So he copied it, also trying to copy the moves of everyone else.

When Chris saw him struggling, she grabbed Claus' hands and guided him through the dance, which wasn't very hard, hearing the beat. When the song ended, the two returned to their spot by the wall.

"Well that was fun," Claus said, breathless.

"You did well for your first time dancing," Chris said.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

The two stayed quiet for some time, listening to the music and watching Ness try to get a couple to stop making out on the middle of the staircase. His efforts were pointless, though, since Paula just dragged him away. The two went over to Claus and Chris.

"Ness, just relax. Your parents were nice enough to leave for the evening. When are they coming back, anyway?"Paula asked.

"Like around 11, I think," Ness said. His deep ocean blue eyes were tired.

"Well, we still have a good hour before they come back," Chris said.

"Yeah, I just hope Ninten's having a good t—" Ness was cut off when someone whooping loudly ran straight past him, a bunch of other whooping teens following.

"Was that…?" Claus started.

"Ninten?" Paula finished.

"What are they doing?" Ness said more to himself as he, Paula, Claus and Chris followed them outside in the backyard. Ninten was for once not wearing his hat (or shoes for some odd reason) as a bunch of teens circled him, chanting "Chug, chug, chug," while Ninten held a gallon of soda, chugging it all down.

"What is he-?" Paula started but was cut off when Ninten finished the soda and everyone cheered.

"Good grief," Chris muttered as she sighed.

"Ninten, what the hell are you doing?" Ness almost screamed.

"Oh, you know, just chugging down some drinks," Ninten said. His face was red from drinking so much at once, and he burped. "Whoops, sorry," Ninten said as a bunch of people laughed. The four other PSI users just stood, wondering how on earth these people were cheering for Ninten.

"Well, at least put on some shoes. Your feet are stinking up the whole place," Ness said, making some other people laugh, including Paula.

"Are you backing down from a _challenge_?" Ninten suddenly asked. A bunch of people gasped dramatically.

"Challenge? What the Giegue are you-?"

"Hey, everyone, I think Ness is _chicken_!"

The soda drunken teens suddenly went "oh" as if Ninten had just said the best comeback in the world.

"Chicken? Oh, nobody calls Ness chicken," Ness said, suddenly grabbing a gallon of soda and chugging it down while Ninten chugged a different one.

"Why do we know these people?" Claus asked jokingly. Paula stayed and cheered for Ness while Claus and Chris just wandered around.

"This is one of those times I wished I had a camera, that way we'd be able to have memories of this," Chris said.

"Camera?" Claus asked, but Chris just told him not to worry about it.

"Well, wanna go back inside?" Claus asked.

"Nah, the weather's nice and cool out here. Plus, it's not as crowded as it is inside," Chris said. "Hey, where are Lucas and Nana?"

"Probably making out somewhere inside the house or something."

"What? Ok, sure!"

The two were quiet for some time, enjoying how quieter it was outside than in the house.

"Hey, Chris…" Claus asked quietly.

"Yeah, Claus?" Chris asked.

"After all this is over, do you wanna go out sometime?"

"… Sure, why not?"

"Aah, I knew you'd say no, _again_, but hones- wait, you said yes?"

"Yes…? Or should I have said no?" Chris joked.

"Oh, finally," Claus said as if thanking God.

"But this doesn't really count as a date, does it?" Chris asked.

"Well, I guess not. I just hope Porky doesn't try to come and crash the party," Claus said, laughing. But Chris wasn't.

"Claus, you idiot! You just jinxed it!"

"What?"

"Now the fat ass is going to come all because you jinxed it!"

"You really believe in that crap?"

"YES! Oh, man. And everyone was having such a good time!"

"You're overdoing it. For all we know, Porky won't show."

"He better not, or I'm blaming it all on you," Chris said, trying to calm herself down.

"… I worry for you sometimes…"

The two journeyed back inside where Chris saw Teddy flirting with Kumatora, who turned him down and went to go dance with Duster, who was blushing. Teddy almost immediately went to the girl next to him and started flirting with her.

"Hey, those two sure are cute," Claus said. Chris laughed at this as her fingers entwined with Claus'.

…

"Hey, Ana, can you help me with something?" Paula asked, calling her friend.

"What's up, Paula?" Ana asked. She was talking to Lucas and Nana, saying how blondes weren't as stupid as people always stereotyped.

"It's Ness and Ninten."

"What'd they do this time?"

"Just come," Paula said, grabbing Ana's wrist and taking her to where the two girl's boyfriends were, on the ground from drinking too much soda.

"I can't feel my… arm," Ness said, his voice hoarse.

"Someone put my hat over my face. The light hurts…" Ninten moaned.

"You idiots…" Paula said, sighing. Ana went back inside, found a frying pan, went back outside and smacked Ninten with it.

"OW! Why would you do that to me?" Ninten asked, rubbing his head. Ana just sighed, shook her head, and helped Ninten up.

"How much soda did you drink?" Ana asked, staring at the several empty bottles of soda behind them.

"I don't know… but I gotta go to the bathroom," Ness said, sprinting to the bathroom.

"Ohh, please tell me there's another one," Ninten said, running in his socks to find another bathroom. Ana sighed again.

"What will we do with these two?" she asked Paula, who giggled.

"Well, at least everyone's having a good time," Paula said.

"True." The time was 10:43. Ness told everyone the party was gonna have to end soon, but almost as soon as he told everyone, the door slammed open, and Pokey came striding into the house. The music even stopped playing to signify everyone's shock.

"Pokey, what do you think you're doing here?" Lucas asked.

"Well, poor little Lucas, I'm here to talk to Ness," Pokey said. Chris, Risk and Jeff had to hold Claus back.

"Pokey? What do you want?" Ness asked, going to see Pokey.

"Well, as you know, or maybe you don't because of your disabilities, I happen to live right next door to you, you loser. What I wanted to know was what could possibly be making all this noise?"

"It's not like Ness has any friends to have a party with," Carlos said. Ness growled, resisting every urge to PK Rock Pokey and his group of idiots out of his house.

"Hey, Pokey, why don't you just leave? No one wants you here," Chris yelled, getting everyone to agree.

"Well, come on, Chris. Who wouldn't want me here? Everyone knows I'm the most important person in the world, compared to you, you freaky little slut."

Chris gasped at the insult and Claus lost it. He went and punched Pokey straight in the face, but Alex and Carlos pulled him off.

"Let me go, you bastards," Claus yelled, struggling to get out of their grip.

"Not until you admit that I'm the greatest person in the world," Pokey taunted.

"I'll _never_ say that!"

"Then they'll never let you go."

"Pokey, leave him alone," Ness said. Lucas, Ninten and Chris ran to Ness' side, all wanting to help Claus.

"Ah, Ness, I need a favor to ask you. If you simply do that, I'll leave you and your friends alone," Pokey said.

"You promise?"

"Well, sure. Now, tell me, Ness, where's the Phase Distorter?"

Ness' eyes widened.

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me, Ness. Tell me, where's the Phase Distorter? Or can you not say because of all your so-called friends?"

Ness was in shock. '_How did Porky find out about the Phase Distorter_?' he thought.

'_Damn, this is not good_,' Ninten thought.

"Pokey, you're clearly insane," Lucas teased.

"Yeah, Pokey, I think you've been up too late," Ninten said.

'_Ness, Ninten, I know everyone's been having a good time, but we're gonna have to end this before it gets out of hand_,' Chris said telepathically.

'_I agree with Chris. Pokey's just gonna keep playing games and end up getting everyone on his side_,' Lucas said telepathically.

"Hmph, fine, if it must be done… Yo, listen up!" Ninten yelled loudly, turning his back on Pokey. All the people in the house focused their attention to him.

"Sorry, but Ness' parents are coming early. We don't want a couple of old folks nagging at us about all... the... mess," Ninten said as he realized just how messy the place was.

"Yeah…"

"He's right…"

"I also don't feel like partying anymore because of the fat guy," some people murmured.

"Well, see ya," Ninten said. Everyone started talking and were about to leave when Pokey stood in front of the door.

"Hold it. Where do you all think you're going?" he asked.

"Pokey, they all just want to leave. Is it really any of your concern?" Claus asked, a defiant look growing on his face.

"No one walks out on King P," Pokey screamed. "Alex, Danny, Carlos, let's show these punks they're messing with the wrong king!"

Alex and Carlos shoved Claus to the ground, running to Pokey, while Danny stayed quiet. Claus got up and quickly ran to Lucas, Ness and Ninten.

'_Chris, it'd be better if you stayed out of this_,' Claus said telepathically.

'_Fine, but next time, I'll rip this fat ass to shreds_,' Chris replied.

Everyone stayed silent, waiting to see what would happen.

"Why don't you show everyone those special powers of yours, Ness?" Pokey asked tauntingly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Pokey. You really should just go home before you get hurt," Ness tried to negotiate.

"Well, why not? I'd love to destroy your house and see your fool of a dad go broke!"

Ninten clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes.

"My dad's no fool. He's one of the greatest people I've ever had the pleasure of having as a part of my life," Ness said, smiling. Ninten smirked to himself.

"Then why'd he go running to my father when he was in need of money, huh?" Pokey continued. "Poor Ness, you'll always be a loser, like your stupid, stupid mother and father."

This struck a nerve in Ness. He was ready to charge at Pokey, but Ana suddenly came from the midst of the crowd, frying pan in her hands, yelling a battle charge. She struck down of Alex, purposely missing Pokey. Alex was easily knocked out, a few teeth scattered on the floor. Carlos gasped in fear. Pokey glared at Ana. Danny didn't seem to flinch, or move for that matter.

"You wanna say that about our friend again?" she screamed.

"Hmph, you're just another stupid blonde bimbo, aren't you? Just like that Paula girl," Pokey said. He made a fatal mistake. Now, both Ness and Ninten, using soda bottles that were still filled for lack of other weapons, swung towards Pokey, but missed with Pokey barely dodging the attack by a hair. Ana swung her pan towards Carlos, who was about to hit Ness with his fists. Danny was the last of Pokey's "henchmen" standing.

Chris, Rebecca, Risk and Nana all gasped at how serious their friends were fighting.

"What's so great about him that lets him avoid the others so easily?" Risk asked himself, referring to Pokey.

Pokey missed another attack by Ana.

'_What's making him dodge so swiftly?_' Ana thought. Chris watched the fight and noticed Danny still hadn't been moving.

"… Of course! Ana! Ninten! It's him, Danny! He's making Pokey dodge quickly," Chris yelled, sharing the information.

"What?" Lucas and Claus asked.

"Look, he's not moving, and it doesn't even look like he's breathing or even alive! He's focusing his attention on Pokey, by their shadows!"

"So, you figured it out, huh?" Pokey asked.

"What's… going on?" some people asked each other. They all got panicked.

"How are you doing it, Pokey?" Lucas asked. No answer. Ness was still trying to hit Pokey. Ninten grabbed Ana's wrist, pulling her towards him.

"Ana, we need to hurry. Our older selves will be here soon and I doubt we would forgive ourselves if we destroyed our own house," Ninten whispered to his girlfriend.

"Well, how do you suppose we get him out? With that Danny kid controlling Pokey's moves, we won't be able to land a hit on him," Ana said.

"Don't worry about that," Claus said. He quickly went and punched Danny, making him lose focus on Pokey.

"Wha-?" Pokey started, but was struck in the face by Ness' soda bottle, which exploded on impact, drenching everyone around them in sticky grape soda.

"Wha, what's going on?" Danny asked, but everyone kicked him and Pokey out, also tossing Alex and Carlos out with them.

"YEAH!" everyone cheered.

"HOLY CRAP, it's already 11:03," someone screamed.

"Everybody get out while you still can!"

With a lot of people screaming, the house was cleared, leaving only the PSI kids, Jeff, Loid, Pippi, Poo and Nana. A car was heard pulling up outside.

"Ohh, no," Ness whimpered as he looked at the mess. Soda bottles, cups, plates, chips and chairs were scattered all across the floor.

"… Anyone up for PK Teleport, say 'I'," Ninten said.

"I," almost everyone but Ness said, all quickly disappearing before Ness could stop them.

"No, wait!"

The door was opened. Ness braced himself.

"NESS KENNETH, WHAT IS THIS MESS?" a loud voice rang. None other than Ana…

"M-Mom?" Ness whimpered. His father just closed the front door, still outside with Tracy, who was asleep.

"I let you have a party and THIS IS WHAT YOU DO TO OUR HOME? I have NEVER been more…"

Ness sighed as his mother continued to yell.

…

"Hey, we're done cleaning in here," Ana said, carrying a garbage bag filled with used plastic cups and plates.

"Ok, we're almost done out here, too," Ninten said. Everyone but Nana returned the next morning to help clean up the mess that had been made. Once it was done, they would all eat and Ninten would set off the Phase Distorter.

"'Kay, all done," Paula said. She had finished cleaning the kitchen. It was spotless.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Ness' mother cried, her eyes sparkling. "I accept you as Ness' girlfriend! Maybe you'll give him some of your good habits! I should've known, anyway, since we were such best friends all those years ago."

Ness blushed at this. "MOM," he screamed. Ness' mother laughed.

Claus was trying to clean some dried dip off a wall in the living room where everything had been going on.

"Why… won't… you… get… OUT?" Claus yelled.

"Calm down, it's just a stain," Chris said. She was throwing bottles and cups into a garbage bag.

"Oh, not just any stain… it wants to ruin my life!"

"I think you're overreacting…" Lucas said. He put another cup in Chris' bag.

"You try! It's hard!"

"It can't be," Chris said as she put the bag down and took the sponge from Claus. She got it out it only seconds.

"Wha… what?" Claus said, shocked.

"Cleaning a lot over the years really builds muscle. Since you're not used to cleaning, it's like trying to lift an elephant," Chris explained.

"Hey, are you calling me weak?" Claus yelled, making Chris giggle. Claus smiled at her.

"So, when do ya wanna have that date?" Claus asked.

"Hm? Oh, that, I forgot." Claus fell on the ground anime style. "Well, Claus, you're going to your Grandpa's house for a few weeks, right? That's on, what, Sunday? Hm… I also have some things to do this coming month…"

"What could you possibly have to do?"

"Well, for your information, Claus Ryuka, I do in fact have a social life, shocking as it seems."

"… Huh?"

"Ha, no, that's not what I meant. My parents are trying to fix our travel machine."

"Oh, yeah, you never told us what happened to it," Lucas said.

"Well, after we came here, it broke. My dad's a mechanic, so after getting the right tools and settling in, the whole family decided to go and try and fix it."

"Chris Poname, does that mean you'll be leaving me?" Claus asked, worry in his sparkling green eyes.

"No, it does not. We just want to see if we can fix it, as a memory of our mistakes and try to make sure the village doesn't go through the same thing," Chris said quietly.

"Well, that's no reason to keep it. You should just leave it alone," Claus suggested, putting his arms behind his head as he went outside with Chris and Lucas, who picked up the garbage bag.

"Mm, yeah, but my dad likes tinkering with stuff. It was hard on him when he found out how limited with technology Tazmily was."

"Hey, don't go insulting our village, now! You live there, too," Lucas said, laughing.

"Yeah, I guess," Chris said, smiling at her friends.

Lucas stuffed the garbage bag into the dumpster-like garbage can.

"Well, I think everyone should be finished cleaning by now. Why don't we get started on breakfast?" Chris asked.

"I'm not letting you cook," Claus said.

"Hey! I'm just gonna do simple stuff, ya know, like getting all of the ingredients ready and serving the food," Chris huffed.

"Geez, ok, I trust you. I still can't believe you can't cook. It's so easy."

Claus was punched in the gut by Chris, knocking him on the ground. Lucas winced at how painful it looked.

"Sorry, but I really don't take kindly to insults," Chris said. Claus just raised his hand so Chris could help him up.

"Claus, your girlfriend's starting to take charge of you," Lucas joked, getting smacked on the head by Claus. Neither Chris nor Claus bothered to correct Lucas that the two weren't dating… at least not yet, they weren't.

…

"Wow, thanks for all the help, kids. For once, I don't have to cook or clean first thing I wake up," Ness' mom said. She yawned. Ness sighed. "Still feeling a little drowsy, though…"

Jeff had invited his father to the breakfast buffet, but Ness' dad couldn't make it.

All the PSI users were helping to make breakfast, with Paula and Ana cooking ham, Ninten, Jeff and Loid making bacon, Ness, Risk and Poo making hash browns, Lucas and Claus making omelettes (A/N- :D) and Chris making… toast.

"C'mon, can't I at least make the eggs or something?" Chris asked as she put another piece of bread in the toaster.

"Sorry, Chris, I really don't want to be mean, but I'm scared you'll burn the house down," Ness said, smiling sadly at her.

"Hmph, fine, but I'm not talking to any of you until all the food is eaten and the dishes are clean," Chris muttered to herself so no one else would hear. Risk stared at his sister. He hated it, but he did it for her.

When Risk and Chris had lived back in their old home city, someone had tried to set their house on fire. Risk had been with his mother, getting something for Risk's father, who had been building their travel machine for escape, when Chris had been home alone to try and finish packing everyone's belongings. Since the Poname family had been treated as outcasts for their "deadly powers", the city decided to send them a warning; the house was lit on fire. The people who lit it didn't notice Chris in there, but they heard screaming, causing them to run.

The house had almost been destroyed when Risk used PK Freeze to try and stop the fire. It had been winter, so his mother threw piles of snow on the building. When Chris was found, her arm had been burned. Risk had known PK Life-Up, so he did his best to heal his sister, but Chris still had a faint scar on her upper arm. It was on the underside of Chris' arm, so it wasn't visible, but it had been traumatizing for Chris, so she asked her twin to erase it from her memory with BrainShock. Risk did it occasionally when Chris would remember, but he hadn't done it in a few weeks.

"Hey, Risk, you're letting the hash browns burn," Jeff said.

"What? Oh, sorry," Risk said, saving the food before it became inedible.

…

"Oh, that food was amazing," Ness said, sighing. He was too full to move from his chair.

"Yeah, this was really nice of you kids to cook," Ness' mother said.

"Hey, mom, isn't that girl you?" Tracy asked, pointing to Ana.

"Yeah, I'm your mother," Ana said nervously. She still wasn't used to the term.

"Oh… and that's Dad?" Tracy pointed to Ninten.

"Hold on, I'm not ready to be called 'Dad' yet," Ninten said, groaning.

"Well, you don't have to worry about it for a long time," Ness' mother said.

"Yes, Ninten, the time gap is rather large. I remember back when we were young, fighting Giegue and saving the world," Dr. Andonuts said to himself.

"Yeah, you really don't have much to worry about," Claus said. "Can't believe you're gonna be a dad Ninten, I mean I didn't think you had it in you to get Ana pre-." Needless to say, everyone except for Tracy and Dr. Andonuts all threw various objects at Claus, since Tracy was still present at the table and only between the ages of 8-9.

"Watch it, Claus," Ninten yelled as Claus was covered in bruises and bread.

Everyone started laughing.

"Hey, Ness, actually, what did Pokey mean when he said something about your dad running to his dad when he was in trouble?" Jeff asked.

"Let me explain that," Ness' mom said. "A few years ago, Ninten… uh, Mr. Kenneth and I were tight on money. Mr. Kenneth had trouble keeping a steady job, so we couldn't afford for new clothes or food that often. Ness was only five, and Tracy was only two. We went to our neighbors, the Minch's, asking if we could just borrow some money. We still haven't paid them back, so the Minch's aren't our biggest fans."

"Well, Porky is a real pig, if you ask me," Loid said. Everyone laughed at this.

"I think it's time we clean up and got to Foggyland," Poo said.

"Wait, I gotta go _you_," Ninten yelled, running to the bathroom.

"What?" Poo asked, but was later disgusted. "Eww…"

Soon, everyone was ready to leave. With the group splitting up for some teleportation, they all got to Dr. Andonuts' lab. They were dizzy from the teleportation, but soon recovered.

"Are you kids ready? The effects might be hazardous," Dr. Andonuts warned, but everyone made sure they were ready.

"Alright," Ninten said, walking up to the machine. But, just as he was about to set it off, a voice was heard.

"Hey, I'm here for my revenge," Porky yelled. He had come from the shadows.

"Pokey, what are you doing here?" Loid yelled.

"I followed you here. When you all teleported, my friends and I got on just at the last second," Porky explained.

"What are you talking about?" Chris asked.

"It was Dr. Andonuts," Porky said, smiling menacingly.

"What?" everyone asked confused.

"When you were all teleporting, we saw Risk was about to teleport, and at the end of the group was Dr. Andonuts. So, we grabbed his coat and as soon as everyone landed, we hid," Alex explained.

"I thought my coat felt a little heavy," Dr. Andonuts admitted. "But I thought that was just the effects of the teleportation."

"Well, what do you want to do with the Phase Distorter anyway?" Claus asked.

"Isn't that answer easy? I want to see the world in the future. I heard a lovely story told by Chris about how the world was in danger of becoming destroyed, and who else but I can be the unexpected hero?"

"P-Pokey, you idiot… you'll get sucked into the depression, too," Risk said.

"Ha, like I'll be depressed! The world is waiting for me, so I guess I should hurry up and answer that call before someone else does," Pokey yelled. He walked quickly to the Phase Distorter. Before anyone could try to stop them, they noticed they couldn't move. Alex, Danny and Carlos were all stopping their movements. They couldn't move a muscle.

"Shadow Lock," all three said in unison.

"H-How are you doing this?" Poo asked.

"It's easy. I've run some experiments, and found a way to give them powers that can prevent your silly PSI," Pokey said as he went to the Phase Distorter. He was now next to it.

"Why would you do this to them and give them some power they probably went through hell just to get?" Chris asked.

"He didn't make us do it; we chose it," Danny said.

"But… Danny…"

"King P offered us a chance, and we took it. Yeah, it was painful, but who wouldn't want powers?" Carlos said, laughing. He, Alex and Danny slowly made their way to the Phase Distorter, still holding back the PSI gang.

"Damn, that's it," Risk said.

"Risk," Chris yelled. He nodded to his older twin, who nodded back. Risk struggled, but he broke the Shadow Lock.

"PK LIGHT ALPHA," Risk yelled, holding his hands out. He pointed to Alex and Carlos, who were farthest from the Phase Distorter. He couldn't damage it. The attack came strong, even though it was only Alpha. A strong burst of white light erupted from Risk's hands. Alex and Carlos only barely missed it. Their jacket sleeves, which were loose, got caught and were almost destroyed from the blast, simply burnt up bits of fabric.

"That power-!" Pokey said in awe.

"King P, before they stop you," Alex yelled.

"Right. You idiots better hurry if you want to make it," Pokey said as he put his hand on the switch.

"Pokey, don't do it," Ness yelled, but Pokey pulled the switch. Alex, Danny and Carlos barely made it, but they touched the device and a burst of bright light came from it.

"No," Loid yelled. It was too late. A burst of wind shot out from the Phase Distorter, and the ground started shaking violently.

"Everyone, get with your friends," Lucas yelled. He went to Claus, Chris and Risk, who all grabbed hands. Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo all joined hands as well. Ninten held Ana tightly while Loid and Ninten held each other's wrists. The ground started cracking.

"This is it," Ninten yelled. The light shone brighter than before, and everyone felt like they were going through a stronger Teleportation. Their heads spun faster than ever, and their feet felt like they were rising from the ground.

"Ness," Ana yelled.

"Ana, Ninten," Ness yelled. "Good-bye," Ness said quietly as he was about to lose his friends.

The force of the Phase Distorter magnetized. Claus felt like he was being pulled apart. He was between Lucas and Chris, and he held on to both of them, not ready to lose either of them just yet.

The power forced Lucas to keep his eyes shut tight. He held his twin's hand tighter than he could've imagined.

…

"Ahh!"

"Whoa!"

"Ugh!"

"Gah!"

The four residents of Tazmily all fell, from nowhere, really, and, even worse, on each other.

"Ohh, are you guys ok?" Chris asked. She had been the last to fall. She helped Lucas, Claus and then Risk up, all in that order.

"Chris, are you ok?" Risk asked. He saw Claus about to hug her, but quickly went and hugged his twin sister. Claus groaned.

"I'm fine, Risk, and you? I can't believe you managed to use it," Chris said in amazement.

"What was that move you used back there?" Lucas asked. Chris and Risk stared at each other.

"PK Light," they both said.

"'_Light'_?" Claus asked.

"Yes. We've been through a lot, but we always kept our hopes high," Risk said.

"Like I used to say, '_Even in the cloudiest of days, there will always be a ray of light somewhere out there_,'" Chris said.

"Deep," Lucas said. "I just hope everyone else got back safely…"

"Yeah…" Claus said.

…

**FREDERICA BERNKASTEL THAT WAS LONG! Well, I hope you enjoyed possibly the longest chapter I've ever written, taking up 19 whole pages on Microsoft Word. And, thus, the final arc has been set. We have **_**three more chapters**_** before the sequel! I'm excited. Pokey, Pokey, Porky, Porkster… Chris, you mind?**

**Chris: Not at all… PK LIGHT OMEGA!**

**Pokey: **_**FFFUUU**_**- **

**:D This was a very fun chapter to write, so what did you guys think of it?**

**Review, please! And, please, PLEASE vote on the poll if you haven't already!**

**~Rika**


	23. Depart

**Sorry I haven't updated lately! ^^; I had Spring Break, and I was planning on using that time to write these chapters, but I found out my aunt was coming and she stayed in my room, also taking my computer -_- Also, I had this BIG 400pt project, so I've been working on that, too.**

**Some "stuff" is also going to happen between Chris and Claus… you can put your imagination to use right now :D And there will be more action and adventure in this! Oh, I'm also closing the poll. The winner was actually never an option, just something I made up the other day…**

**Well, enjoy!**

**Chapter 23: Depart**

…

Still unsure what the effects of the Phase Distorter had been, Lucas, Claus, Chris and Risk had decided to ask everyone in town what they knew; how they met Chris and Risk, what they had done the night before and if the names Ness or Pokey rang a bell.

"What'd he say?" Risk asked. Claus had gone to ask Fuel the questions.

"Yeah, he can't remember who Ness or Ninten, Ana, Jeff, Loid or anyone for that matter is," Claus said.

"It really worked, then," Lucas said.

"Even Richie thinks we met because I started talking to Nana and Lucas at the beach," Chris said.

"That _is_ true, and maybe now she'll be nice to you," Claus said, but Chris stayed quiet.

"Hey, when are you two going to visit your grandpa again?" Risk asked.

"In two days, and we'll be gone for about a week," Lucas explained.

"Well, I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun," Risk said, starting a conversation with Lucas.

"Claus, something's been bugging me," Chris said quietly.

"What is it?" Claus asked.

"… It's just… why would anyone treat their friends like a bunch of lab rats?"

"Is it the Pokey thing?"

"Yes, it is."

"Well, I've always known Pokey's been a bit… manipulative… spoiled… rotten… cruel, insane, rash, not all he says he is…"

"I think you made your point."

"Heh, you think?"

"Hey, Chris, there's one more person we need to check," Lucas said.

"You mean Nana?" Chris asked. The two walked as quickly as they could to go see their friend.

"Hey, Claus," Risk said as the two walked a distance from Lucas and Chris.

"Yeah?" Claus asked.

"I have a bad feeling about something…"

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure, but it's going to happen soon, real soon. That's as much as I know."

"I think you're overreacting, both you and Chris," Claus said.

"You think so?"

"Nothing bad is gonna happen. We've made it this far, right? We deserve a break."

"… You better be right, or I'll convince my sister not to go on that date with you when you come back. I know how much you like her."

"Hey, that's not fair," Claus shouted as Risk chuckled.

…

"Nana," Lucas said as he ran to his girlfriend. She was reading a book when she noticed Lucas and Chris running over to her.

"Hey, Lucas, what is it?" Nana asked.

"Tell me, do you remember what happened yesterday?" Lucas asked, thinking the worst.

"Y-Yeah, there was the big party Ninten had yesterday. Where is he, anyway? Everyone's acting all weird, like they all forgot the past ten months ever happened," Nana said.

"Oh, thank goodness," Lucas said, hugging Nana.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?"

"It's a long story," Lucas said, walking with Nana away from everyone else.

"Aww! Those two are so cute together," Chris said, melting at the fluff.

"I don't see it," Claus said.

"What? Oh, come on, they're adorable!"

"Mm, I guess they are… I dunno. I'm not into mushy stuff…"

"I can tell."

"Well, hey, when are we gonna have that date?" Claus asked.

"I told you, some time after you come back," Chris said.

"I can't wait that long."

"Yes, you can."

"No…" Claus said playfully.

"Yeah…" Chris responded.

"What are you two doing?" Risk asked. Both Chris and Claus had forgotten about his presence.

"Hey, Risk, I forgot. How'd it go with Rebecca yesterday?" Claus asked.

"What? Oh, that, well it was going pretty good, at least until Pokey came and interrupted everything."

"That's a shame."

"Yeah, she seemed cool. Sadly, I found out she lives in Onett right across the street from Ness," Risk said sighing.

"Aw, well that really bites," Chris said.

"I know. But something was a little weird when I was talking to her. She reminded me a little bit of the Principal because of how weird she was acting and talking," Risk said.

"Why are you thinking of the principal, Risk? Did you have a crush on her?" Claus teased.

"Hey, I did not! It's just… she said 'the school will benefit from the fire. It'll get a lot of money for better lockers and materials' or something like that," Risk explained.

"Maybe she was related to someone who worked in the school?" Chris suggested.

"I don't know… I keep thinking that the principal is going to come out of nowhere and yell at us or something. I don't know why."

"I just realized how weird of a brother you are," Chris said.

"Maybe you're just a weird sister."

"Now I'm confused…"

"… So am I."

The two twins laughed at their strange conversation.

"Why don't we just say you're both weird?" Claus suggested.

"My twin is not weird," both yelled simultaneously. Claus was shocked at their sudden response, but let out a shaky laugh.

"Who said I was calling anyone weird? Maybe I was talking about two other people. No one really knows." Claus said overdramatically.

"I think Claus is the one that's weird," Chris said, laughing.

"Don't go turning on me," Claus joked.

The PSI users laughed for awhile before returning to their homes.

…

The next day had surprisingly gone by fast. All Claus remembered was finishing packing for the visit and eating with his family. It didn't feel real to him, but he didn't care. Today he was going to spend the day with Chris and try to get that kiss from her. He had planned to meet up with her, but he had been late for some reason.

"Claus," Chris said as she saw the orange-haired boy running over to her. She had just been sitting by a tree reading a book.

"Hey, I'm sorry I was late. I got held up at home," Claus said, panting.

"I-It's ok, Claus. I actually got here only half an hour ago. I had to do chores, ugh," Chris said. The next series of sentences had gone by fast.

"Chores are lame," Claus said.

"Never have I heard any words truly spoken," Chris quickly responded, which Claus quickly responded to.

"Your wordplay scares me."

"How so?"

"Not sure."

Chris laughed.

"Alright, alright. You know, you didn't have to hang out with me. I could've done something else," Chris said.

"Yeah, but I wanted to. I really like you, Chris," Claus said. He stared at Chris, who stared back, blushing. Claus held Chris' hand with one hand and stroked her face with the other. The two leaned close to each other, their lips ready to meet.

Their lips were barely touching, just about to become an actual kiss when Claus felt a sharp pain in his side.

"AAH!" Claus yelled. He jumped, sitting upright. Claus was covered in a blanket. He had still been in bed.

"It… was just a dream… Damn, even in my dreams I can't kiss her," Claus muttered to himself. "Now what was that?"

"Claus, hurry and get up. We need to finish packing already," Lucas said. He was dressed and had a suitcase propped open on his bed. Claus saw a stray shoe on his bed, probably what hit him.

"You could've woken me up another way, ya know? And maybe after the dream was getting to the good part…" Claus complained, getting out of bed and changing out of his pajamas and into his normal clothes. He grabbed his suitcase and went to his drawers, getting shirts, shorts, pants, boxer shorts, and socks. He made sure to keep them from unfolding. If he stuffed it into his suitcase all messy, his mother would be mad.

After putting the clothes, Claus went to find an extra pair of shoes and a pair he could wear, since he was walking around in his socks. As he went downstairs, he saw his mom with a small bouquet of sunflowers.

"Hi, there, Claus," Hinawa said, smiling to her son.

"Hey, mom. Where'd you get the sunflowers?" Claus asked.

"Oh, your father brought them earlier. He had to go back to tend the sheep. These flowers are beautiful, though."

"You sure do love sunflowers, huh, Mom?"

"Why, yes, yes I do." Hinawa said cutely, making both her and Claus laugh.

"I can't wait to see Grandpa Alec. The Dragos are always fun," Claus said, excited.

"Yeah, just be careful when we get there. You know your brother."

"Don't worry; I won't let anything hurt Lucas."

"That's my boy."

"Hey, there they are," Claus said to himself as he found his shoes. "Uh, Mom, can I ask you something?"

"About what, honey?" Hinawa asked as she cleaned the kitchen countertop.

"Well… about dating."

"Well, what do you need to know?"

"Uh… well, I really like this girl. She's special to me and –"

"Is it Chris?" Hinawa suddenly intervened, a smile on her face.

"Mom, please!"

Hinawa couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Hinawa said between laughs. Claus groaned. "Ok, what was it?

"Well, I really like her, and we haven't gone on an actual date yet, but I want to… I want to kiss her, and I can't get the right chance. Even when it seems like it'll work, something happens that interrupts us."

"Uh… Claus… hmm, this is kind of confusing… Why don't you… ok, try to get her alone so no one can try and, uh, stop you two. Just make sure it's just a kiss, Claus," Hinawa said, trying to act as cheerful as possible.

"Mom, it's not like we're gonna have s-" Claus was suddenly hit over the head by Lucas.

"Claus, have some respect for mom," Lucas said as he held the shoe he had used to throw at Claus before.

"Why?" Claus moaned before passing out. Lucas shook his head as Hinawa laughed nervously.

…

Chris was getting groceries from Tessie's Inn when someone suddenly grabbed her from the waist behind.

"Ah! Claus," Chris said as the orange-haired teen smiled at her. He stuck his tongue out at her as he rested his chin on her shoulder. Chris tried to get out of Claus' grip as she said, "Hey, let me go!"

"I won't let go of you until you tell me that… I'm the coolest guy you've ever been with," Claus said stealthily.

"Done; you're the coolest guy I've ever been with," Chris said. Claus was surprised. He thought she'd put up a fight, but he guessed not. Claus released Chris from his hold as Chris put more food into her bag.

"What are you doing?" Claus asked.

"My mom's making dinner tonight and I'm helping her, so I came to get the ingredients," Chris explained as she picked up a loaf of bread.

"You're gonna try and cook?" Claus asked, flabbergasted (A/N: I wanted to use it so badly).

"Yeah, that, and I really need to get over my fear of fire. It seems a bit silly to be scared of it," Chris said.

"That's good, trying to overcome your fears," Claus said.

"Hey, you never told me what you were scared of," Chris said as she and Claus left.

"Well, I'm gonna start by saying I don't have any fears," Claus said.

"That can't be true! Everyone has some fears."

"Well, not me. I mean, Lucas, maybe, but not me."

"Don't try to act all tough and macho. I'll find out what they are some day."

"Well, it won't be soon."

"Who knows? Maybe it'll be tomorrow, or a month from now." Chris said using the same overdramatic method Claus had used the day before.

"Or not until you and I find Risk a girlfriend." Claus joked. Chris playfully hit Claus on the shoulder.

"Don't be mean to him! Rebecca seemed good enough for him, but we won't be seeing her any time soon."

"Well, I really hope we can see Ness and everyone again someday."

"Maybe when it's not as dangerous as it was now."

"Yeah… like time-travel. Hey, do you think we can use your time machine? Once it's fixed?"

"Uh, yeah, we might, as long as we don't use it too often. If we do, it could break and we can get trapped in another time area. Coming to Tazmily was just to escape, but I'm honestly glad I met you."

"I'm slightly offended but also happy you said that," Claus said. Chris blushed at this. She stayed quiet for some time.

"You turned out to be nothing like what I expected." Chris suddenly said.

"What'd you expect of me?"

"You don't wanna know…" Chris trailed off.

"I think I do." Claus said, staring directly into Chris' face.

"… Well, I thought you were gonna be crazy, loud, hyper, and, no offense, dumb. I never thought I'd end up liking you."

"You thought I was dumb? …I'm ashamed to say it, but you were right."

"No, you're not dumb at all. You're really smart."

"Then ask me a math question."

"Oh, Claus, don't make me do this."

"Come on, Chris, just ask me something, anything," Claus was almost begging the girl. Chris sighed.

"Fine… What's the Quadratic Formula?" the girl asked.

"…what?" Claus asked.

"Quadratic formula… it's used for quadratic equations?"

"I… have no idea what you just said! See? I'm stupid."

Chris groaned quietly. She stopped walking, stood in front of Claus and gripped his shoulders firmly so he'd look at her.

"Not to me. Everyone has their flaws, but we're all intelligent in our own ways, even if no one else seems to see it." Claus stayed silent. He put his hand to his shoulder, grabbing Chris' hand. He smiled at her.

"You always know what to say, huh?" Claus asked as he stared into Chris' fiery red-orange eyes. Chris stared into Claus' leafy green eyes and the two both thought the same word: kiss. Chris gave a gentle smile to Claus, who returned the smile as he slowly closed his eyes and leaned towards her. Chris did the same. Like in Claus' dream, they were so close to their kiss, but, like always, something had to ruin it.

"Chris, Claus, hey," Fuel yelled. Claus groaned in anger, Chris sighed. She smiled sadly at him and quickly pretended to be getting something out of Claus' hair as Fuel went over to them.

"What do you want, Fuel?" Claus asked angrily. Chris got a small bit of leaf out of Claus' hair, lucky it was there.

"Hey, you don't have to be so grouchy. You two aren't busy or anything, are you?" Fuel asked.

"Uh, actually-," Chris stared.

"We were going to-," Claus started.

"Great. I'll stick with you two," Fuel said, putting himself between the two. Claus resisted every urge to punch his so-called "best friend."

…

Lucas had gotten everything organized in his suitcase. He could go and hang out with Risk, Nana, Claus or Chris now that he was done.

"Hmm… I guess I can talk to Risk," Lucas decided as he left the house. He pet Boney on his way out and saw Risk sitting outside his house reading a book.

"Risk, hey," Lucas called.

"Oh, hi Lucas," Risk said, closing the book.

"What were you reading?" Lucas asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just something from school."

"Really? It survived?"

"Yeah, I was shocked too."

"Well, at least you have something to read."

"Yeah, it sure beats sitting around here bored."

"Hey, wanna hang out today? I figured Claus was going to go and try and get Chris to kiss him or something –"

"Wait, what?" Risk asked, alarmed.

"I… probably shouldn't have said that."

"Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have let him get near her," Risk huffed.

"Risk, don't you think you're o-overreacting? I mean, I-I think Chris can make her own choices, and Claus really is a great guy," Lucas tried to say.

"There was that incident with Richie."

"Yeah, but you really should just trust Claus. I-If he does anything bad, then m-maybe you can h-hate him…" Lucas didn't feel comfortable saying the words.

"Fine, but if he does…"

"I think you've made your point," Lucas said, laughing uneasily.

"Where are those two, anyway?" Risk asked, curious.

Risk and Lucas heard Fuel talking loudly from a distance. He was walking between Chris and Claus, Claus with an irritated look on his face and Chris looking a bit uncomfortable. Fuel was talking about how he and Nichol were going to try and pull some pranks on Angie and Richie, so they should watch out.

"Uh, guys, I'm really sorry, but I need to go. I have stuff to do," Chris said.

"What? Aw, well at least Claus and I can have some guy time," Fuel said. (**A/N**: Basically, what Fuel is trying to say, my dear readers, is "_Bros. before hoes_!" *_Claus punches me for calling my own character that_*)

"Ah, don't go," Claus said, grabbing Chris' wrist, but she got out of his grip.

"Sorry, Claus, I really should leave," Chris said as she left the two.

"So, Claus, how about you and me go hang out?" Fuel asked.

"Uh, sure, whatever," Claus said disappointed.

…

Claus was thankful when Lucas called him telling him Hinawa was almost done with dinner so he could go home. He thought Fuel would never shut up about Angie, making Claus think about Chris and their almost-kiss. Today was his last day with her before he left.

"Claus, you're home," Hinawa said as Claus entered his house.

"Yeah, Luke told me dinner was almost ready."

"Yeah, we're having some steak."

'Steak… Ness…' Claus thought, remembering his friend. He felt sad knowing he wouldn't be able to see his friends again. If Chris was able to use her time machine, maybe, but Claus had a feeling he'd be missing his friends for a long time.

After the family ate, Hinawa told Lucas and Claus to finish packing. Flint apologized to his wife for not being able to go.

"It's ok, dear, I know you're busy with work," Hinawa said. Lucas and Claus quickly went upstairs to finish packing their things.

"So, Claus, how was your day?" Lucas asked.

"Well, it was going good until Fuel showed up," Claus said bitterly.

"Oh, I saw that. Sorry about that."

"You don't need to apologize, Luke."

"Mm, yeah, but I know you really wanted to be with Chris. I read your mind and all you were thinking was that Fuel should've gotten out of there."

"Hey, don't go reading my mind," Claus said, chuckling.

"Hehe," Lucas said, laughing. The two eventually finished packing all their things for the trip.

"So, did you kiss her?" Lucas asked.

"No, I didn't. Fuel stopped us before I could," Claus sighed.

"Well, you'll get her."

"Oh yeah, and what about you? You and Nana were making out on the first date!" Claus yelled.

"Hey!" Lucas yelled. The twins laughed together.

"Lucas, you ready for the Dragos?"

"Yeah, they're so fun!"

"This is gonna be great," Claus said, his excitement building up.

"We're leaving right after we have breakfast, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'll have to go run and tell Nana good-bye. A week away from Tazmily…."

"Yeah… Do you think I should do that for Chris?"

"You like her, so yes." Lucas said, making Claus smile.

"Ok, then. We'll say bye to them and go through Sunshine Forest to Alec's house."

"Like we do every year," Lucas said, putting the suitcases away and taking his shirt off to put his pajamas on.

"Tomorrow's going to be a fun day," Claus said as he started changing.

…

Risk woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and breathing heavily. He had yelled, waking up Chris.

"What was that?" Risk said, panicked. He had woken from a vision. He wasn't sure if it was a dream or a vision, but it horrified him.

"Risk, what happened?" Chris asked.

"Chris…" Risk said shakily. His entire body was shaking as his heart beat quickly.

"What happened to you?" Chris asked, concerned for her twin.

"I… It's too much to say in words," Risk muttered.

"Can you tell me telepathically?" Chris asked. Even though it was dark, Risk could still see Chris' face covered in concern.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Risk said as he shakily put his hand on his twin's forehead. He closed his eyes and focused, showing his sister the visions he had seen. It had taken a few minutes, but Chris gasped and jerked away from Risk, her hands over her mouth.

"N-No," was all Chris could say.

"You don't think it'll happen, do you?"

"I'm not sure, but… we need to tell someone before it's too late," Chris said, shaking her head as the vision replayed in her head.

"If we tell Lucas and Claus, they won't want to go on that trip with their mom," Risk said.

"You're right… but if they were here while it happened…" Chris' voice trailed off as she slowly said, "We need to let them go, but stop the vision from happening."

"How do we do that?"

"You know how. We'll have to kill that… thing," Chris said, the words feeling like poison as they escaped her lips.

"And if it kills us, then what do we do? You'll only make Claus suffer even more," Risk said, making Chris close her eyes in sadness. She stayed quiet. After awhile, she finally spoke:

"It's late. We should go back to sleep," She said, going back to her own bed. Risk bit his lip. Tazmily was going to turn like their old home… and all because of the return of Pokey.

…

The next morning, Lucas and Claus told Hinawa that they were going to say good-bye to their friends.

"Ok, be back soon so we can get going. It's going to be a long trip," Hinawa said. Lucas and Claus went their separate ways as they went to find two certain girls.

Chris was still traumatized by the vision. It was too horrifying to think about it, but she couldn't stop. Risk stood by her, also shaken. They decided to try and not think about it when Lucas or Claus came. They were simply sitting outside their house, waiting, when Claus ran up to them.

"There you are," Claus said. Chris simply looked up and smiled at him. Claus noticed how stressed Chris looked.

"Are you ok?" Claus asked.

"I-I'm fine, just a little tired," Chris lied.

"Well, Lucas and I are leaving now," Claus said.

"Are you here to say good-bye?" Risk asked, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

"Yeah, but we'll be back soon," Claus said. The words made Chris tense. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Instead of answering, Chris hugged Claus tightly, burying her face in Claus' chest so he wouldn't see the scared look on her face. "H-Hey, I'm only going to be gone for a week," Claus said.

"J-Just a week, right?" Chris asked, her voice slightly shaky. She knew it'd be much longer if she and Risk failed their plan.

"Yeah, you'll be here waiting for me, right?" Claus asked.

"…Yeah," Chris said sadly. "And we'll go on that date…" Her voice shook horrifyingly, so Chris prayed that Claus wouldn't notice.

"Ok, I need to say bye to Fuel and Nichol," Claus said, getting out of Chris' grip. "I'll see you two soon."

"Bye, Claus," Risk said. Chris stayed quiet, knowing if she said anything, she'd break down.

Claus left the two twins, wondering if they really were alright. Claus read Chris' mind and all he heard was '_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…_' Claus thought about this as he went over to Fuel.

…

"Bye, Lucas, I'll see you soon," Nana said, kissing Lucas on the cheek. This made the blonde blush as he left his girlfriend to go find his twin. Chris walked quickly over to Lucas.

"Lucas," Chris said.

"Oh, hi, Chris. I dunno where Claus is," Lucas said.

"What? No, I… I already said bye to him and I wanted to say bye to you." Chris said. "I hope you have… fun while you're there, and make it through ok."

"We'll be fine," Lucas said, smiling.

"You better, hehe. Uh, Lucas, I need to tell you something," Chris said nervously.

"What is it?" Lucas asked.

"Well, you can't tell Claus, ok?" Chris explained.

"Uh, ok, what is it?" Lucas asked.

"Uh… there's a chance I might not be here if – I mean, when you get back, but it's nothing to worry about. It's just that Claus might freak out and I don't want him doing anything crazy. And… just promise you won't let Claus do anything crazy, ok, Lucas?" Chris asked.

"Y-Yeah, I promise, Chris. Um, can I ask where you're going?" Lucas asked. Chris shook her head.

"I'm not even sure if I'll be going," Chris said. "Alright, bye Lucas. Have a lot of fun."

"I will, don't worry," Lucas said. Chris smiled sadly at the boy.

"Ok, I'm going to go talk to Nana," Chris said as she left. Lucas thought about what the girl had said. Just what was going on? Maybe Claus would know about this.

…

Hinawa put all of her things outside along with the twins' stuff. They were saying bye to their friends before they let, and Hinawa sighed happily as she stared out into Tazmily. Flint came.

"Hinawa, are the boys saying bye to their friends?" Flint asked.

"Yes, and when they're both here, we'll leave. What time is it?" Hinawa asked.

"It's 12:51," Flint said, looking at his watch.

"Oh, I hoped we could leave earlier. It takes a few hours to get through that forest," Hinawa sighed.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine, I'm sure," Flint said. Hinawa smiled at her husband.

"We'll be back in a week," Hinawa said.

"And I'll be here, waiting," Flint said. Lucas and Claus went running over to them.

"You boys ready to leave?" Flint asked.

"Yeah," both twins said eagerly.

"Alright, then. Make sure to look after your mother," Flint said.

"Flint, we'll be fine," Hinawa said.

"I know… bye," Flint said as he watched his family leave.

Chris and Risk watched from their house as their friends left. They knew they wouldn't be seeing them for a long time.

…

**Anyone notice the Pokémon reference? Lol, I'm such a nerd. X3**

**Well, you know what happens after this, right? Oh, I'm gonna cry! I already started writing the next chapter when I was at school, bored out of my mind, but I swear, I'm going to start tearing up when it comes to the part where… *starts crying madly* Why, why, why? *sob-sob* Claus is going to kill me…**

**Chapter 24 Absence; Selected quote: **"What's this Frog doing here?"


	24. Absence

_** DAMN YOU, WORD! My Word program started failing halfway while I was writing this, so there are probably tons of typos, ugh…**_

_** *sob* I'm so sad… You'll find out while you're reading, unless you already know... This chapter's going to be a bit rushed at some parts, so please bear with me! Oh, and note that starting from now, I'll be writing this and the sequel (which I've already started writing) in proper format. Ok, get a box of tissues ready, because you'll be crying! *sob***_

**SchoolBound:**

**~Chapter 24: Absence~**

…

Chris and Risk waited two hours after Lucas and Claus left to start planning. They hated the thought of hiding their plan from the Ryuka twins, but it had to be done. The plan also had to be carefully and well-executed, so Risk had walked around Tazmily to find out when they could start their mission. Eventually, he found the right time.

"We'll have to leave late at night," Risk said the next morning.

"I'm sorry, what?" Chris asked. She had woken up only a few minutes before, so she was still half asleep.

"If we're going to… to save the Drago, we'll need to leave at midnight, while everyone's asleep," the boy explained.

"Oh, right," the older twin said uncertainly. "But, Risk, what do we do about Mom and Dad?"

Risk groaned. He forgot about that. It took a few minutes for his brain to form a decent idea, so he took the notebook they had used to plan everything and started writing.

"We'll have to tell them the truth, about the vision," Risk finally said.

"They won't allow it! They'd say it's too dangerous," Chris said.

"That's why we'll leave them a note explaining everything," Risk said, already writing the excuse.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Chris said silently.

"Of course I do, just as long as Fassad doesn't find out. Have you seen that monkey of his?"

"The poor thing, Fassad must treat him badly if it always looks so unhappy," the girl said, clearly concerned. The two put their notes and plans away as they heard their mother going upstairs, probably to get them.

…

Lucas, Claus and Hinawa had arrived to Alec's log cabin rather late, so the twins unpacked and their mother had cooked them and their grandfather dinner before they had gone to sleep. Now, the next day, Claus had woken up earlier than Lucas. Claus smiled when he saw his sleeping twin. Hinawa was already making breakfast.

"You're up early," Hinawa said, smiling to her oldest son.

"So are you," Claus remarked, making Hinawa laugh. Alec had woken up and came from his room.

"Good morning, Claus, Hinawa," the elderly man said.

"Good morning," both Hinawa and Claus said.

"It's really great to have you here," Alec said, fixing his hat.

"Well, it's great to be here, Dad," Hinawa replied. "Claus, why don't you do something outside?"

"But Lucas is still asleep," Claus said.

"Oh, well, let him sleep, then. You just find something to do," the mother said. Claus decided not to argue against his mother and left the cabin. He saw a small frog hopping around and decided to play with it.

"Er, hi there," Claus said as he walked up to the frog. It blinked. Claus pondered as he tried to read the frog's mind. It was blank.

"You're a boring frog," Claus muttered. The frog hopped away. Claus sighed, muttering, "Maybe it'd be less boring if Risk or Chris were here…"

This got Claus thinking about the way the twins were acting the day before. It was as if they were hiding something… As Claus thought about it, Lucas came out of the cabin and saw the older twin deep in thought. Since Claus hadn't noticed Lucas, the blonde formed a devious plan.

Lucas slowly crept towards Claus, and when he was directly behind the orange-haired boy, Lucas grabbed his shoulders and yelled. Lucas laughed as Claus jumped and quickly moved away from Lucas.

"Ah! Lucas, what did you do that for?" Claus asked, but he was still laughing. "Morning, Luke."

"Good morning, Claus," Lucas said. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, just thinking," Claus said, kicking a rock.

"About what?" Lucas asked, curious.

"About how strange Chris and Risk were yesterday when I said good-bye," Claus said with no hesitation.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you about that," Lucas said. "Chris was acting all weird and nervous when I talked to her."

"Really? When I read her mind, she just kept thinking 'I'm sorry.' I'm getting worried about it," Claus said. Before they could go into it any further, Hinawa called them inside to eat.

…

"So, Chris, that boy you're always hanging out with left yesterday, right?" the girl's mother asked.

"Um, yes, Claus and Lucas went with their mother to visit their grand-father," Chris said as she ate some more toast. She'd never admit it, but after Ninten had her make it before all the chaos ensued, she enjoyed making toast.

"You and that Claus boy sure are friendly, huh?" the father asked.

"I-It's nothing to worry about," Chris said nervously.

"It better not be," the father continued. Chris laughed nervously.

"Er, Risk, how's that book you're reading?" Chris asked, trying to change the subject as best as she could

"I'm nearly halfway through," Risk said, going along. "I'm at the part where Giselle is going through the transformation."

"Oh, really? Can I borrow it after you're done reading it?" Chris asked her twin.

"Yeah, of course," Risk said, nodding his head. The family finished eating and went to do their things. Chris and Risk spent a few hours doing chores before they continued to plan their mission to save Tazmily from the Pig King.

"So, sis, how do you suppose we stop it?" Risk asked.

"Well, I was thinking… you know those weird pig-masked people always following Fassad around? We'll follow them," Chris explained. "They always leave him and go through the forest. Maybe they have a base or something."

"That sounds good," Risk said, writing it down. "And when are we going to do this?"

"Definitely not tonight, that's for sure. We should get some food or something for the way, and then go," the older twin said.

"Alright, then we should be finished planning by either today or tomorrow," the younger twin said.

"Great, I want to talk to someone, anyway," Chris said, starting to get up.

"Let's finish planning first before we do anything," Risk said. Chris sighed before muttering, "Alright."

…

"Lucas, look! The Dragos wanna play," Claus said excitedly. The large green creature roared. Claus laughed as he started climbing on top of it.

"C-Claus, what are you doing?" Lucas asked. Claus laughed cheerfully.

"C'mon, Lucas, let's have a race," Claus said, pointing to the Drago's companion. Lucas smiled as he climbed the Drago. The two dinosaur-like creatures obeyed, racing with Lucas' winning.

"Ha! I won," Lucas cheered. The twin brothers got off the Dragos and saw Alec coming over.

"Hi, Grandpa Alec," Lucas said.

"Hello, boys," Alec said, laughing. "You two sure do love playing with the Dragos, don't you?" Lucas and Claus nodded their heads. "Well, your mother just asked me to come and check on you, so I'll be going now."

"Ok, bye," Lucas said as their grandfather left.

Later, the twin brothers decided to play baseball, but since it was only the two of them, they simply alternated between pitching and batting. They did this repeatedly for 20 minutes until Lucas hit the ball too hard, sending it flying through the forest.

"Aw, man," Claus said. He stretched before going through the forest with Lucas to retrieve the ball. When he found it, Claus noticed the river.

"Hey, Lucas, why don't we go swimming later?" he asked.

"I dunno. That current looks strong," Lucas observed. Claus groaned.

"C'mon, Luke, why don't we try to find a lake or something?" Claus asked.

"Sorry, Claus, I'm getting kinda tired. Right now, it's what, 4 pm already?" Lucas argued, winning. Claus sighed, defeated.

The two walked back to the cabin and helped their mother with cooking.

"So, Claus, I forgot to ask, how'd it go with Chris?" Hinawa asked as she added chopped onions to the stew.

"Oh, not so good," Claus said.

"Why, what happened?" Hinawa asked, going to help Claus pound the meat.

"Well, we were about to kiss, but then Fuel came and messed up everything," Claus said, sighing.

"Yeah, Claus was pretty mad," Lucas said.

"Oh, well that's too bad… How about when we get back there, you just… surprise kiss her?" Hinawa suggested.

"Surprise kiss?" Claus asked.

"Yeah, just go up to her and kiss her so no one can interrupt you," Hinawa explained as she started frying the meat.

"Oh… that's a great idea, Mom. Thanks," Claus said.

"It's no problem, dear. Thanks, you two, but I can manage finishing the stew," Hinawa said, letting Lucas and Claus leave.

…

"Alright… it took some time, but we're all done," Risk said, sighing. The notes were a bit scrambled, but they were perfect.

"It's already afternoon," Chris said, sighing.

"Yeah… hey, who did you need to talk to?" Risk asked.

"Flint. I figure if anyone needs to know, it's him. But we'll just tell him to be safe and careful," Chris said.

"Should we go, then?" Risk asked.

"He's probably tending the sheep. And what will we say to him?"

"We'll just tell him not to do anything crazy, like what we said to Lucas," Risk said, remembering how Lucas found out about the twin's PSI.

"I just hope we make it," Chris said quietly. "You remember those Dragos. If they're going to be changed to those horrible monsters, will we be able to stop it?"

"I don't know, but its better we die than Hinawa. We don't even belong here," Risk said bitterly.

"True… and we probably would've been killed by everyone back there…" Chris said softly.

"Yeah," Risk said quietly.

"But I feel like if we do this, we'll only make things worse," Chris muttered.

"We shouldn't have anything to worry about," Risk assured. Chris smiled at this.

"Great… it is almost 7 pm… we spent that long planning?" Chris said, shocked.

"Well, we planned after we ate, which was almost 12:30, and we also had to do chores," Risk reminded his older twin sister.

"Right… Oh, I'm so tired I can't even remember what we did today," Chris sighed, putting her hands on her face.

"Then rest," Risk said, yawning.

"We both can take a break. Wanna go to the beach to try and relax? The sun's still up," Chris suggested.

"Eh, I dunno. I want to take a nap," Risk said.

"Whatever floats your boat," Chris said, standing up and stretching. "I'll be back. I'm going to tell Nana about our plan."

"You shouldn't talk about it that much. Try and code it. You never know when Pigmasks are going to be snooping around," Risk warned.

"Alright, I'll try," Chris said, leaving.

…

"… So, I'll need you to tell Lucas that so he can tell Claus… do you get it?" Chris asked, slightly confusing herself.

"Uh… yeah, sort of," Nana said, laughing. Chris smiled and leaned her head against Nana's shoulder, clinging on to her friend. Nana leaned her head against Chris' head, so it was more-or-less an awkward hug.

"I just hope we succeed," Chris said softly into Nana's ear.

"I know you will, Chris. You're strong and confident, and you also have Claus to come back to," Nana said back.

"Thank you. It's just… that dream was so vivid," Chris said, coding like her twin had suggested.

"It's just a silly dream, we'll be fine," Nana argued, but Chris still had her doubts. "Oh, by the way, I'm thinking of collecting seashells to make some necklaces. Since you still have some time, do you want to help me tomorrow?"

"I'd love to, Nana," Chris said sincerely. "Snap, the sun's going down… we should get home," Chris said. She untangled herself from Nana and stood up, brushing the sand off her shorts and back of her shirt.

"I'll be here as soon as Risk and I are done making sure everything's done. Actually, why don't you come to my house?" Chris asked.

"Oh, yeah, that's a great idea. Alright, I'll be there at noon," Nana said, waving good-bye to her friend as she left.

…

The next day had already come, and Claus was in desperate need to find the lake. He hadn't gone swimming in the longest time.

"Lucas, let's go," Claus cried as he put his sandals on. It was noon already, and he couldn't wait.

"Lucas, I need to change, too," Lucas said. Claus already had a pair of orange swimming trunks, but Lucas had barely started changing into his matching blue swimming trunks. Claus sighed as he stood outside the room. Lucas wanted privacy when he was changing.

"I'll be outside," he called as he walked away. Hinawa was staying at the cabin with Alec, so Lucas and Claus had at least an hour to go swimming. Claus thought about Chris' strange behavior again, wondering why she had been so shaky. Just before he could come up with a solution, Lucas came out.

"Alright, I'm ready," Lucas said, putting his towel on his shoulders.

"It's about time," Claus said impatiently. The twins started walking through the forest, following the river to see if there was a lake. It took some time, but they found one.

"All right," Claus cheered. He put his sandals and towel in a pile by a tree, jumping in the lake all before Lucas could say, "Claus, wait!"

"Ah, it's cold," Claus shrieked, laughing. Lucas sighed as he did the same, but walked slowly in the lake.

"It _is_ cold," Lucas said, shivering. He slowly made his way into the lake.

"Ahh, the water's so relaxing," Claus said, sighing in happiness.

"Yeah… It's hard to believe almost a month ago we were in school," Lucas said, floating in the water.

"Well, I'm glad we don't have school anymore. I wonder what happened to all the teachers and stuff," Claus said, putting half his face under water, keeping his eyes above.

"Maybe they disappeared," Lucas wondered.

"Eh, whatever, it doesn't matter," Claus said, going underwater and swimming a bit. "I'm just glad we're here."

"Uh-huh. Hey, let's see who can swim faster," Lucas yelled.

"Oh, you're on!"

…

"You guys are doing some serious stuff, aren't you?" Nana said as she read through the notes.

"Yes, we are," Risk said, sitting in a chair. Chris sat beside him, thinking about the risks of their plan. If they failed, they wouldn't see Lucas or Claus again.

"Well, when are you two going to do this?" Nana asked. The twins stared at each other as they thought about it.

"Uh… tomorrow," Chris decided.

"So this might be the last day I'll see you?" Nana asked.

"W-We'll still be here tomorrow, but we'll be leaving at around midnight tomorrow," Risk explained.

"O-Oh, well, I guess we have a lot to do today and tomorrow," Nana said. As Chris looked at her friend, she noticed Nana was on the verge of tears, but hiding it very well.

"Nana, why don't we head over to the beach and start collecting those seashells? We can start making them tomorrow," Chris suggested.

"Oh, alright," Nana said, giving the notes back to Risk. "Do you want to come with us, Risk?"

"Well, I guess I don't have anything better to do," Risk said, standing up and walking with the girls. They took a bucket to hold the shells and spent some time getting them. The three ended up filling the bucket past the top, spending less than half an hour to fill it.

"Is this enough, Nana?" Risk asked. He was in charge of carrying the bucket, so his arms were incredibly tired.

"Yeah, that's fine," Nana said, laughing. Chris smiled.

"Alright, let's get going to your house, Nana," Chris said.

"Ok, but my parents aren't home. They went somewhere for a few days, to find some other island r something," Nana explained.

"What do you mean?" Risk asked.

"Well, my family really loves the ocean, so my parents wanted to see if they could find anything else here. They left me here since the risks were high, but that was almost two weeks ago," Nana said.

"Nana, aren't you worried?" Chris asked.

"Yes, I am, but I can't go and find them myself. I could get lost or get killed," Nana said. "The ocean, she can be dangerous."

"She sure can," Risk said, shocked.

"So you've been alone for awhile now, haven't you, Nana?" Chris asked, feeling sympathy for her friend.

"Yeah, but I'm fine, really," Nana said, faking a smile. The three ended up taking the shells back to Nana's house, seeing a lot of ocean-related objects in the house.

"You do all love the ocean," Chris said quietly. They left the house and hung out for the rest of the day.

"What's this Frog doing here?" Risk asked later in the day as a small green frog hopped around. Risk ignored it as he continued to play tag with his friends.

…

"Claus, Lucas, did you two have fun? You were gone for almost three hours," Hinawa said as the twin brothers walked over, towels wrapped around themselves.

"Sorry, Mom, the water was just so good," Claus said happily.

"Well, you must be hungry. Come on in, I made your favorite," Hinawa said. Lucas and Claus cheered in happiness. "Wait, both of you change first before you eat. I don't want you getting the furniture all wet."

"Aww," both Lucas and Claus said as they went to change. Eventually, they had their omelet dinner in happiness. Claus' thoughts drifted to Chris' behavior from before, but were cut short when Lucas told him a story from trying to cook once.

"Day Two of the visit is over," Lucas said dramatically. Claus laughed at his twin's behavior as he jumped onto the bed in their room.

"Is that necessary?" Claus asked, still laughing. Lucas tackled him, shouting "Yes!" The two fought for some time, laughing at how unnecessary it was.

"How are you two enjoying this so far?" Hinawa asked, standing by the door.

"It's like how we feel about omelettes, Mom; our opinion will always be the same," Lucas said, rolling off of Claus.

"Yeah, we'll always love coming here," Claus said, yawning. "But I'm so tired…"

"You better get used to it, Claus," Lucas said. Hinawa laughed silently at her two twin sons.

"It's almost nine. Normally Claus has enough energy to last until almost midnight," Hinawa said, sitting with her sons.

"Well, I'm not sure why I'm so tired now," Claus said. "I was probably thinking too much."

"Planning on that kiss still?" Lucas joked. Claus hit his twin.

"I'm just gonna do what Mom said," Claus said, yawning.

"Wow, you are tired," Hinawa said. She kissed Claus' forehead, then kissed Lucas'. "You boys make sure you get to sleep. You can stay up a bit longer, but promise you'll get some sleep."

"Alright," Claus said.

"We promise," Lucas said.

"Good," Hinawa said, leaving the two boys and going to her own room. Lucas yawned and fell on the bed.

"Ah, Claus, you got me tired," Lucas said. Claus shook his head.

"I really don't know why I'm so tired," Claus said. "Actually…. I've been thinking about Chris all day."

"Aww," Lucas teased, which resulted in Claus grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Lucas with full force.

"No, I mean how she was acting the other day," Claus said. "Now that I think about it, when she mentioned our date, her voice was really shaky, like as if she knew something was going to happen that wouldn't let us."

"Maybe she or Risk had a vision. Remember the time they warned me about how you were going to get in a serious fight?" Lucas reminisced.

"Oh yeah, that was Risk, huh? When we first found out they had PSI," Claus said. He sighed in thought. "What do you think they saw?"

"Well… she told me not to tell you, but Chris said she might not be in Tazmily when we come back and for you not to do anything crazy," Lucas said, sighing as he realized Chris would be angry.

"What? What did she mean she wasn't going to be in Tazmily? Where else will she be?" Claus nearly yelled in frustration. Lucas groaned.

"I'm not sure, but it must be really important if she didn't want us to know," Lucas said, trying to calm his twin down. Claus growled in frustration.

"That must be why she was being all weird. Lucas, Chris lied to me," Claus said angrily.

"C-Claus, I'm sure she has her reasons. I-I mean, m-maybe she lied since she knew you'd overreact like this," Lucas said.

"But… what would she ever need to lie?" Claus asked. Lucas saw the sad and confused look on Claus' face.

"L-Like I said, it must be really important if she had to lie," Lucas said. Claus growled as he put his hand to his forehead, trying to think things through.

"I'm talking to her telepathically," Claus said in frustration. Lucas sighed as he realized trying to get his twin to stop worrying about it would be hard.

"Why don't you wait until tomorrow?" Lucas suggested, but Claus' attitude didn't change. Claus sat down and closed his eyes, focusing on Chris.

"Claus, please, let it go," Lucas said.

"Lucas, I need to find out what's going on," Claus said without opening his eyes. "I don't want her to leave. Chris is one of the best people to have ever walked into my life, and I'm not ready to let her disappear that easily."

"Claus…" Lucas muttered, but Claus was gone, his attention on Chris.

'_Chris… if you can hear me, I need to talk to you. I know you're leaving Tazmily, Lucas told me. Please talk to me,_' Claus said telepathically. No answer.

"Damn it," Claus muttered under his breath.

"Just try again later," Lucas said, realizing he sounded like a Magic 8 ball Ninten had shown him once.

"You're right, maybe she's asleep," Claus said.

"Having trouble, Claus?" Hinawa asked, coming back into the room.

"Yeah," Claus muttered. "But it's… nothing to worry about." Claus couldn't stop wondering what was going on with Chris.

…

Chris sat up in her bed, realizing this was her last night in Tazmily. She sighed when something came to her telepathically and froze when she realized it was Claus.

"It's about time," Chris said quietly, smiling to herself. She didn't respond to it, knowing Claus was very suspicious of things.

"Risk… we need to go to Nana's house tomorrow," Chris said as her twin entered the room. "Also… Claus just tried to speak to me telepathically. He's getting suspicious."

"Did you say anything back to him?" Risk asked, sitting on Chris' bed.

"I can't bring myself to. I'm scared he'll come rushing to stop us," Chris said, sighing.

"Then just don't tell him. I might not know, but I'm sure it's killing you inside to tell him," Risk said, putting his hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Risk… I don't know what to do… we need to kill that Mecha-Drago tomorrow at midnight. How can I last ignoring Claus for that long?" Chris asked. Risk hugged his sister.

"Stay strong, sis. If he asks me anything, I'll tell him not to worry about anything," Risk said. He heard Chris sniffle, and he wasn't surprised. She had wanted to cry ever since she had seen the vision, so that she managed to last this long had impressed the younger twin brother.

"T-Thank you," Chris said. Risk felt the girl's tears fall on his shoulder. He held his sister for a few more minutes until they broke apart. Chris wiped her face and got off the bed.

"Just go to sleep, and try not to think about it, ok?" Risk said. Chris nodded meekly and prepared to go to sleep.

…

Before anyone had woken up, Claus had awoken, still suspicious. He sighed as he sat outside the cabin, leaning against a tree stump and using a stick to draw random lines in the dirt. Lucas had woken up and went to sit next to his twin.

"Hey, Claus," Lucas said. Claus continued to draw the random lines. "Look, Claus, I know you're bummed out and all, but trust me, Chris likes you a lot and would never want to hurt you."

"I know, Lucas. I just don't know why I'm so bummed out," Claus said, drawing a random grid of tic-tac-toe in the dirt and handing the stick to Lucas.

"Well, maybe because Chris has never lied to you, so you feel betrayed," Lucas said, making a move. He gave the stick back to Claus.

"Maybe… but I was really hoping I could trust her… what reason do I have to not trust her right now? I didn't trust her when she tried to figure out Porky's plan last year," Claus said, making his move. The two twins stayed silent as they continued to play the game.

"Well, Claus, trust is really important in a relationship. Maybe it's something personal, and you two just aren't close enough yet for her to tell you…" Lucas said, pausing as he decided what move to make.

"When do you think we will be close?" Claus asked as Lucas finally made his move.

"That all depends on you two, Claus. I can't be the judge of that. Tic-tac-toe, three-in-a-row," Lucas said, drawing a line between his winning moves. He stood up and left Claus outside to think. Claus did just that, spending a lot of time on it before he decided his best bet was to try and talk to the girl again. He'd try for as long as he could until she spoke to him.

But for now, his mother called him inside to eat.

…

Nana hugged Chris for what seemed like an eternity. They spent most of the afternoon making the necklaces, and it was now almost 4pm.

"Nana, please, you're choking me," Chris cried, her face blue.

"Nana, I know you don't want her to go, but don't kill her," Risk joked. This got Nana to let Chris go, who gasped overdramatically.

"Oh, Oh, I can breathe! Thank the Savior," Chris joked.

"Sorry, Chris, I just don't want you to leave me, too," Nana said sadly.

"Nana, I know it's rough being here alone and not knowing where your parents are, but I'll be back, ok?" Chris said as gently as she was allowed.

"Ok, Chris, just don't get yourself killed or Claus will throw a fit," Nana joked, laughing. Chris and Risk laughed with her. The three walked back through Tazmily to find Chris' parents and say the twins were staying at Nana's house so they could leave on time. Before they could, they were stopped by the last person they needed: Fassad.

He was giving a speech, Risk still shocked that people were listening to him and even starting to tear down buildings to make better ones. Fassad stopped in the middle of his speech and yelled as loudly as he could to get everyone focused on Chris and Risk.

"Wait, people of Tazmily! It seems not everyone living in your dreadfully boring village is what they seem to be," Fassad cried. He pointed to Chris and Risk, making them stop and try to figure out what Fassad was doing.

"Yes, you fools, these two, what, children, are they? They don't belong here," Fassad continued.

"What the Hell?" Chris muttered under her breath.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Fassad?" Risk asked loudly.

"Oh, you brainless youth, don't you think you two ought to tell these people the truth?" Fasad yelled, taking out a banana and eating it.

"The truth? I don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking about," Chris said loudly.

"Ha! Tell me, fools of Tazmily, where did these two and their family come from?" Fassad asked.

"They just kind of showed up," one rather plump woman said.

"And where do you think they showed up from? Hmm?" Fassad continued.

"Oh, shit," Risk cursed. "Fassad, stop this nonsene. We moved here from the neighboring islands," Risk said loudly, lying.

"Well, why doesn't anyone else from these neighboring islands come then, huh?" Fassad asked the teenager.

'_Crap, think_,' Risk thought as he struggled to form an idea.

"I'm not sure, but our family wanted to come here, and that's that," Chris said, beating her twin to it.

"Oh, really, now? Tell me, girly, do these people know about your crime?" Fassad asked. Chris and Risk froze. The villagers gasped and talked amongst themselves.

"Villagers of Tazmily, Chris Poname and Risk Poname are murderers," Fassad said. The villagers gasped, and so did the twins. "They murdered an innocent man just because they didn't like him," Fassad continued.

"That's not true! They wouldn't do that," Fuel yelled. He stared at Risk, showing he was there to help.

"Tell me, fools, do you want these two to be with your children? They can manipulate them and turn against you, or even worse, if the twin murderers get in arguments with your children, do you want to see your children dead?" Fassad cried.

He smiled evilly as he snapped his fingers. Pigmasks came from what seemed to be nowhere and grabbed Chris and Risk. Nana was pushed away by the Pigmasks, wishing there was something she could do to help her friends.

"Get off," Chris shouted. She twisted her arm, elbowing the Pigmask in the face to free herself. Risk did the same, but proceeded to knee the Pigmasks.

"Do you see this danger? People of Tazmily, let's get rid of these psycopaths!" Fassad yelled, making several villagers charge towards Chris and Risk. The two turned to each other and nodded. They ran back as quickly as possible to the nearest forest clearing.

"PK Freeze beta," Chris yelled, pointing to a nearby tree.

"PK Fire gamma," Risk said, pointing to the same tree so it fell down and blocked the villagers' path.

"Nana, please tell them," Chris called as she and Risk ran from the Pigmasks climbling the large tree. Chris and Risk got into the forest, running at full speed.

…

"Claus, what do you want to do today?" Lucas asked.

"I want to try and talk to Chris again," Claus said, making Lucas frown.

"Claus, just listen to me," Lucas said, grabbing Claus' arm. "Whatever reason she has,we'll find out when we're going back to Tazmily. For now, it really shouldn't be a big deal. Maybe her voice was shaky because she got sick and she told me what she did because she was concerned for us. So, please, let it go already." Claus stared at his younger twin for a few seconds before nodding.

"Alright, I'll stop," Claus said.

"Good," Lucas said, sighing in relief.

"Wait… what did Chris say again?" Claus asked, starting to think things through.

"Just to be careful and not do anything reckless. I guess she doesn't want your arm broken when you go on that date," Lucas joked. Claus laughed, trying to view everything in a positive way, hoping Lucas was right.

…

"_NOO_! Let me go," Chris screeched as the Pigmasks grabbed her. She and Risk had thought they had gotten away when Pigmasks came from another area and grabbed them.

"PK Lig- _Aggh_," Risk yelled as he was suddenly injected with a strange needle. Two Pigmasks were holding his arm and body as another administered the strange fluid inside it.

"Risk," Chris screamed, but a Pigmask put his large glove over her mouth as the ones holding Risk dropped him and grabbed her arm. Risk fell to the ground. Chris screamed, her voice muffled and tried to kick the Pigmasks away, but they stuck another needle into her, making her scream even more.

"This fluid is going to stop you from using any of your magical PK whatever," the Pigmask injecting the fluid in Chris said. "It's also specially designed so it makes you two pass out. We can't let you see where you're going."

The Pigmask covering Chris' arm let her go, and the teenager was about to say something when she started swaying.

"It should start kicking in by now," another Pigmask said, laughing. Chris fell to the ground, her vision blurring.

"C-Claus…" Chris said quietly before she fell unconscious.

…

Nana stood, shaking. Chris and Risk… what was going to happen to them? Nana was terrified at how easily the rest of the villagers had believed Fassad. When Lucas had explained everything to Nana, he told her about how he, Claus, Chris and Risk all had PSI and how their friends had done something to mess up the fabric of time.

When Chris had spoken to her the day before, she told her about a strange vision involving Lucas and Claus' mother dying at the hands of the Pigmask army. Chris and Risk were going to try and stop them from changing the Drago, but now they'd never be able to. The crowd of villagers waited anxiously for what had happeed.

At first, it was quiet, then, screaming, and then, quiet again. After a few minutes, a Pigmask came. Everyone was curious.

"Fassad, the two convicts have been captured. Shall we send them to King P?" The Pigmask asked.

"Good, that sounds like a great idea. I'm sure a visit with the King will surely teach them a lesson," Fassad said. "_Nwehehehe_!"

Nana gasped. They were captured! And now, Nana had to tell Lucas and Claus. What would happen? They were still going to be gone for two days.

Nana walked home, scared about what was going to happen in the next few days. Her first real friend was gone, and her boyfriend was out of the village. She was alone. Nana cringed as the tears slid down her cheeks.

…

"Wake up… wake up," a loud voice said. Chris moaned as she stared to slowly wake from her drug-induced nightmares.

"Wake up, dammit!" the voice yelled. Chris was suddenly kicked in the stomach. She coughed and slowly sat up. Chains were around her wrists, holding her arms together. A Pigmask was holding the end of the chains.

"Heh, it's about time you're awake," a voice said. Chris, her vision blurred, tried to see who was talking to her. "Oh? You don't remember me? Chris, it's me, your old friend, Porky."

"P-Porky…?" Chris muttered before gasping and coming to her senses. She saw the aged figure of Porky from her vision in a strange machine. "Porky? Where, where am I? How did you get here?"

"Don't you remember? The Phase Distorter *cough* *cough* brought me here," Porky said, whezing,

"You… you've gotten… old," Chris said, still shocked at her old foe's appearance.

"It was an effect of the Distorter, you see. I've travelled so much to get here, remembering how disgustingly boring it was. *cough*" Porky continued. "Oh, and, Chris *wheeze* call me King P, if you may."

"Why would I ever do that?" Chris asked. She was suddenly kicked, making her fall back to the floor.

"Obey King P, filth," the Pigmask holding Chris' chains yelled.

"Heh, you're just like Claus. By now, the Mecha-Drago should be near complete," King P said, coughing violently.

"Why? Why would you do this?" Chris yelled.

"Don't you know, Chris? This world is my playground. I can do whatever I want, and no one can stop me," King P said, laughing before coughing again.

"Oh, and by the way, your brother woke up earlier. He struggled to free himself, so we were forced to… take him to the experimentation room," King P said.

"Experiment? What do you plan on doing to him?" Chris yelled.

"Like I'll tell you, loser! Take her to her cell," King P ordered. Two pairs of arms suddenly grabbed Chris dragging her to an empty cell. On the way, Chris saw other people locked up.

"What is this?" Chris muttered. The Pigmasks threw Chris in the cell before closing and locking the door. Chris grabbed the bars. "Tell me, who are all these people?" she demanded.

"Some are PSI users like you, others are people who tried to get in our way," the Pigmask answered. They left, leaving the teenager alone. Chris shook her head as she fell to the cell floor and started crying.

"What have I done?" she said quietly, continuing to cry.

…

"Ok, boys, time to go home," Hinawa said, packing her belongings. The next few days had gone by quickly for them, and Lucas and Claus had just finished eating their omelettes. Hinawa's bird had returned from sending the letter to Flint, and it was time to go home.

"I swear, the Mole was so easy to beat," Claus said proudly.

"Y-Yeah, it sure was," Lucas laughed nervously. "Why don't we go pack?"

"Yeah, ok," Claus said. "Ah, Lucas, I'll get to see Chris soon. Thanks for stopping me before I did something crazy."

"No problem, Claus," Lucas said. '_I just really hope it was nothing…_' the blonde thought. The two eventually finished packing, and Hinawa said good-bye to Alec.

"You three be careful, it'll be dark real soon," Alec said, staring at the slowly setting sun.

"We will," Lucas and Claus said. "Good-bye, Grandpa Alec."

"Good-bye boys. Be safe."

The twins and Hinawa started walking through the forest. It was fine for an hour, until it got dark.

"Ok, boys, let's hurry up before we get lost," Hinawa said, pushing the twins in front of her to walk faster.

"I-It sure is dark, isn't it?" Lucas asked, fear rising in his voice.

"Come on, Luke, it's just the dark. What could go wrong?" Claus asked before mentally slapping himself. He was starting to get superstitious since Ninten's party when Chris had gotten superstitious, resulting in Porky's arrival.

"Alright, there's nothing to fear, like Claus said," Hinawa said, but she was clearly worried. The ground suddenly started shaking, making the family stop.

"What was that?" Lucas asked.

"Boys, let's go, something might be wrong," Hinawa said, picking up her speed, Lucas and Claus closely following. They stopped again when they heard a loud roar from their right. Hinawa turned and gasped. She quickly put herself in front of Lucas and Claus.

"Mom… is that…?" Lucas asked, his voice trailing off.

"It's the Drago…" Claus said. "But what happened to it?" The Drago was covered in strange metal pieces, looking… mechanical.

"Ok, boys, just move back slowly," Hinawa said, her voice shaking. The ground suddenly started shaking, making Hinawa turn around and hold Lucas and Claus.

"M-Mom, we need to get out of here as fast as possible," Claus said, starting to get scared.

"No, Claus…" Hinawa said, her voice suddenly becoming determined.

"What do you mean?" Claus asked. Hinawa focused her gaze on the river not too far from them.

"You two… I love you both, and your father. Go," Hinawa said, standing up and pushing Lucas and Claus towards the river. They fell in and the Drago roared behing Hinawa.

"Mom," Lucas and Claus yelled as they struggled to keep their heads above the roaring water. They watched as the Drago suddenly sunk its teeth into Hinawa, killing her.

"MOM!" the twins yelled. Her scream rung in their ears, and Lucas and Claus couldn't move. They fell underwater, losing consciousness.

…

"Lucas? Claus?" a voice asked. Lucas stirred as he struggled to open his eyes.

"Tessie…" Lucas said quietly as he made out the woman's figure.

"You two were in the river… where's Hinawa?" Tessie asked. Lucas froze. Claus sat up next to him, tears sliding down his face.

"Mom…" Claus sobbed. Lucas started crying as well. The twins held each other, still shaken from what they saw.

"Boys…" Tessie said quietly. She took Lucas and Claus to a log, helping them out of their clothes and putting some warm clothes on them. She took two large brown blankets and wrapped them around the shaking twin brothers. Tessie sat them down at a log next to the fire.

"Lucas…" Nana yelled, running and hugging him. Lucas immediately hugged her back. Claus watched.

"N-Nana…" Lucas sobbed.

"Oh, Lucas, are you ok?" Nana asked. Lucas stayed quiet.

"Why don't we give them some space, huh, Nana?" Tessie suggested.

"Oh… ok," Nana said, leaving Lucas' side. The twins sat at the log, not saying anything to anyone, not even Fuel or Duster. Soon, Flint came. The twins hugged him, crying on his shoulders.

"Flint," Bronson yelled. He went running up to the man. Everyone but Lucas and Claus went closer to Bronson.

"Flint… I'm not sure what to say… But just stay calm and hear me out. I have good news, and I have bad news. Which do you want to hear first…?" Bronson asked, but before Flint could say anything, Bronson continued. "No… Let me start with the good news first." The villagers who were there went even closer to Bronson.

"I picked up a giant 'Drago Fang'. It'll make for a great weapon. I figured you could probably use it," Bronson said.

"Well, that's great, Bronson, but what's the bad news?" Flint asked. Claus and Lucas continued to cry silently.

"… As for the bad news… The bad news is… It's where I found the Drago Fang. It was… in your…" Bronson stopped talking.

"Come on, out with it," Duster said. Bronson gulped nervously.

"It was pierced through your wife's heart…" Bronson finally said. Everyone gasped and took a step back but Flint. He stayed quiet. He took a few steps back before pounding the ground in anger, crying.

"Flint…" Bronson said nervously. "Just try to stay calm… I think the only reason Claus and Lucas are safe and sound now is because Hinawa risked her life to protect them." The twins watched silently at their father.

Flint stayed on the ground. A few villagers slowly went closer to him, Tessie the closest to the distressed man.

"Flint…" Tessie said quietly, but Flint pushed her away. Tessie fell backwards. Flint got up and stood in front of the fire. Bronson followed him, but Flint punched the fire with his bare fist. He grabbed a flaming piece of wood and started beating the fire with it. Tessie covered her ears at the sound. Flint swung the piece of wood towards Bronson, who immediately stepped back.

Flint swung the pice of wood around. As Bronson backed away, Flint walked closer to him.

"Flint…" Ollie, one of the villagers said, but Flint continued to beat the ground with the stick.

"Flint… I'm not sure what to say…" Abbot, another villager said. "Please try to pull youself together…" Flint jabbed Abbot with the wood, knocking him down. He continued to swing the wood around in rage. Tessie quickly got up and ran to comfort Lucas and Claus, who watched terrified at their father's rage.

Ollie tried to take the wood from Flint, but Flint quickly struck Ollie with it. Fuel backed away, terrified. Bronson quickly tried to take the wood from Flint.

"Flint! What are you doing? Claus and Lucas are watching!" Bronson yelled, but Flint pulled back, almost hitting Bronson with the wood. Lighter snuck behind Flint, carrying his 2x4. He struck Flint across the back of his head, knocking out the enraged father.

Lucas and Claus continued to watch. Claus wished Chris were there to comfort him like Nana had, but she was nowhere to be found. Claus didn't realize this until now. So this is what she had meant…

Lucas and Claus watched as Flint was carried away, probably to the village jail.

"Lucas…" Claus said, not having spoken in a while. "This is what Chris meant by being careful, wasn't it?" Lucas slowly nodded his head as he couldn't get the memory of his mother dying out of his head. Claus slowly found himself asleep not long after, his dreams the replaying memory of his mother's death.

…

Claus woke up with a strange feeling on his face. It was wet. But…

"Boney," Claus said opening his eyes. The old dog whined. Claus pet the dog. "What are you doing in here? Mom doesn't like you being in… Mom…" Claus stopped petting Boney.

"Claus," Lucas said, coming into the room. "There's going to be a funeral for Mom. We should go."

"Lucas… she risked her life for us," Claus said, starting to cry again. Lucas also cried at the memory. The twins immediately hugged each other, crying for so long. Boney whined as he sat next to his owners. Lucas pet Boney and hugged the dog. Claus stopped crying, wiped his face and stood up.

"Lucas… I'm going after the Drago," Claus. His voise was raspy, but he didn't care.

"Claus… you can't," Lucas said, still crying.

"Lucas, Mom is dead! Dad is in jail, and I have no idea where Chris is. I think she's gone, too," Claus said angrily. His voice cracked as he tried not to cry at the situation in front of him.

"Claus, Lucas," a voice said. They turned and saw Nana slowly walking towards them. "Chris told me to give you a message."

"What is it? And where is she?" Claus demanded.

"Please, Claus, just hear me out," Nana said. Claus stayed quiet. "Risk had a vision. He saw Hinawa dying by the Drago. He showed Chris and they decided to go and try to stop the Drago from reaching you. Before they could, Fassad... he stopped them.."

"They _knew_ about this?" Claus asked angrily. "Why didn't they tell us?"

"Chris knew how important the trip was to you, so she and Risk were going to try and stop the Pigmasks from ever changing the Drago," Nana yelled, trying to make Claus calm down. "Chris didn't want to hurt you! She was trying to _protect_ you, Claus!" Claus stayed quiet as realization hit him.

"Chris…" he muttered, sitting on a chair. "Fassad… what'd he do to her?" Claus asked, his fists clenching.

"The night they were going to find the Drago, Fassad turned the village against them. They tried to run and free the Drago, but they were captured and imprisoned," Nana explained. "They've been gone for two days now."

"… She and Risk were going to save Mom…" Claus' voice trailed off. He screamed in anger and punched a wall, making a hole in it. Boney whined as Lucas and Nana gasped in fear.

"Claus," Lucas yelled.

"Mom would've been alive if it weren't for that damn fatass, Lucas! Because of him, Chris couldn't help us and now Mom is dead and Chris is who-knows-where! I'll kill them," Claus yelled.

"Claus, _no_," Nana yelled, but Claus grabbed the homemade knife on the table and ran out the door. His anger… he'd make the Pigmask Army pay for everything they had done to him.

…

**Ohhhhhh, God! TT~TT I'm crying… I really am. What will happen to Risk? Will Claus succeed? (Oh, we all know the answer to that one…) Will Nana's parents return? Find out on the **_**final**_** chapter of **_**Schoolbound**_**!**

_***Special thanks to Riku's Music Lover for adding Chris to her story, "Promises Unbroken," so in return, her character Giselle got a slight cameo (the book Risk is reading mentions 'where Giselle is going through the transformation'). Thanks, RML! xD**_

** ~Normally, I'd say "review," but in the next chapter, I will list EVERY SINGLE AUTHOR who has reviewed this story! ;D**

**Chapter 25; Come Back to Me. Selected Quote: **"… because I love you.**"**


	25. Come Back to Me

…**I was right… a good 89.9% of these reviews were all "NOOOOOO!" Thanks for the feedback, guys! (These statistics are nowhere near accurate, but you get the point.)**

**Oh, one more thing! Giselle is ****lil' fayri grrl's**** character in Promises Unbroken, which is by both her and Riku's Music Lover. Thanks, you two!**

**Here we go… *starts crying again* GOD WHY? This is the LAST CHAPTER of **_**SchoolBound**_**! Remember: No Crying 'Till the End!**

**SchoolBound:**

**~Chapter 25: Come Back to Me~**

…

Risk struggled to open his eyes. He had been taken to this place two days ago, but he had been kept in a cell. Both days, however, he was injected with a drug that stopped him from using his PSI. He couldn't even speak telepathically to Chris. He was worried.

"Hey, brat," a Pigmask called, but Risk stayed quiet. "Hey, kid!"

"Alright, alright," Risk said sarcastically.

"Don't try to sass me, boy. Come on, I need to give you your meds," the Pigmask said. Risk saw a few more come and unlock the door. Three Pigmasks grabbed Risk while two stood in front of the doorway. Risk had no chance of escaping, but he had to give it a shot.

When the Pigmasks were rolling up Risk's sleeve, he quickly kicked the Pigmasks' legs making them fall. Risk made a break for the door, but the Pigmasks there grabbed him before he could.

"Gove it up," a Pigmask said.

"Hold his arms down," the Pigmask holding the injection needle said. Risk's arms were held down by four of the Pigmasks while the last one injected the needle. Risk groaned in pain, but the Pigmask eventually took the needle out of his arm. The Pigmasks still held Risk as they walked towards the cell door, but as soon as they reached the door, the Pigmasks threw Risk at the wall.

"Unh," Risk moaned in pain. He needed to get out and find Chris. That was all that mattered to him. His parents… risk had been told by Porky himself that his and Chris' parents were captured as well and taken to another base. Risk would have to find them when he broke out.

He sat in the cell, going on the small bed inside the cell. Risk hugged his knees as he worried about Chris. What would happen to her? He'd find her and they'd escape… but Chris cared deeply about Claus… no one in Tazmily trusted them…

Risk groaned as he tried to think things through. Not too much time passed until more Pigmasks approached Risk's cell.

"Hey, you, it's time to go," one yelled. Risk stared at the Pigmasks as they entered his cell and grabbed his arms.

"W-Where are you taking me?" Risk asked.

"To a special place," a Pigmask said, laughing. Risk wondered what kind of place would make the soldier laugh like that but had no time to come up with a solution seeing as how he was brought to a door. The Pigmask Guard knocked on the door.

"I've brought him," he said. Risk wasn't sure what to expect, but the door swung open. The Pigmasks pushed Risk in and slammed the door shut. Risk turned around immediately but was grabbed by more Pigmasks. Risk was dragged to an operating table.

He wasn't sure what they'd do to him, but he wasn't going to like it. Risk was suddenly pressed against the cold metal.

"N-No, what are you doing?" Risk screamed as Pigmasks suddenly started strapping Risk to the table. Risk struggled with the restraints, but they were bound tightly.

"The King has insisted you speak with him," a Pigmask said.

"And what if I don't want to talk to him?" Risk asked.

"You'll just be listening," the Pigmask continued. He covered Risk's mouth with a strip of fabric, tying it around Risk's head and holding it so it would tighten. Risk started hyperventilating. His asthma was acting up.

"Calm down, we'll give you a breathing tube when we're done," the Pigmask said. A strange whirring noise was heard, and Risk saw "King P," as he was now called.

"Risk, good to see you *cough* again," King P wheezed. Risk just glared as ferociously as he cold at the Pig King. "Oh, come now, Risk. Don't be *cough**cough* angry. Just hear me out." A Pigmask pressed a button on a machine and a door started rising.

"Test Subject 1017, meet your new partners," the Pigmask said. Risk froze at what he saw.

"Let him speak," King P said, so the Pigmask removed the fabric. Risk just stared at the two girls he knew.

"H-Hoshi, R-Rebecca," Risk stuttered.

"Hello, Risk. Long time no see," Hoshi said. She looked… different. The girl had gotten slightly taller; her boy-short light brown hair had grown shoulder length. She still had her star-shaped hair clip and her green and orange striped dress. Her dark grey tights were a cut above the ankles, and Hoshi's dirty purple shoes were completely worn out.

"Where have you been all this time?" Risk asked.

"Here, of course. King P said he could use people like me to help the army. They're going to try and fix the mistakes from our old home," Hoshi said.

"That's a lie, Hoshi! I know this man, and he's nothing but a rotten liar," Risk yelled. The restraints were suddenly tightened.

"Gah," Risk yelled in pain. "Ugh… Rebecca, what about you, what are you doing here?"

"Risk… I really do like you, but I've been advised not to say anything about my appearance here," Rebecca said without looking at Risk.

"But…" Risk's voice trailed off as a boy came from the area Hoshi and Rebecca had been.

"So, you're the Fire Prince, is that it?" the boy asked. He was tall and had spiky baby blue hair, a light green beanie and matching short-sleeved jacket. He had brown armlets with hidden weapons and simple jeans and sneakers.

"Fire Prince?" Risk asked, confused.

"Aura, he doesn't know," Hoshi whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Risk demanded.

"It's part of our plans, you see. You and your *cough* sister are going to be our *cough* test subjects," King P said.

"I'd never join you, Porky," Risk yelled.

"Oh, but you will. *cough* *cough* Alex," King P yelled.

"Alex…?" Risk whispered when a Pigmask walked up to him.

"Oh, you remember me? That's a great thing," a voice said sarcastically. A Pigmask pulled off his helmet and revealed to be Alex, Porky's "friend," only older, looking about 20-25 years of age. He was certainly fatter.

"What can you possibly do? No matter how much you beat me I still won't join you," Risk said angrily.

"Oh, don't you worry about that," Alex said. He pulled out a box filled with strange, green liquid. "This is a special thing we've been creating to erase the memories of people. We need a test subject, so you'll be that."

Risk gasped as Alex put the liquid in the needle and injected it into Risk's arm. Risk started feeling dizzy.

"Why did it have to be my sister and me?" Risk asked after Alex took the needle out of Risk's arm.

"Because Lucas and Claus' PSI still isn't fully unlocked," Alex said.

"What?" Risk asked, trying to stay awake before the drowsiness kicked in.

"Yes, haven't you noticed? They've only used their telepathy, but they've never used their actual PSI," Alex said.

"Maybe that's because we never need to use our PSI?" Risk retorted angrily.

"No, we've dug around and found out Lucas and Claus are in fact capable of using their PSI, but they haven't unlocked it. Because of that, you and your sister are our best bet," Alex said. Risk wanted to question it even further, but he found himself drifting off.

"You won't know what you'll be forgetting at first. It may just be simple things like conversations or lines from books, but soon, you won't be able to remember your name or even your sister," Alex threatened. Risk gasped as his eyelids started feeling heavy.

"Stay away… from my sister," Risk managed to say before losing conscious again that week.

…

"Claus, wait," Lucas yelled as he ran after his enraged twin. "Claus!" Lucas managed to grab Claus' arm to stop the twin from running.

"What, Lucas?" Claus asked angrily.

"Claus, please think things though. If you go and try to kill the Drago, you'll get killed, too. We can't even use our PSI that well," Lucas explained.

"Lucas, I know we just lost Mom, but that's why I'm going. I don't know who's in charge of this Pigmask Army or whatever, but they've done too many things to the people I love," Claus said.

"Wait, Claus," Lucas said, his eyes stinging. "Don't go, please." Claus stared at Lucas, who was doing his best not to cry and pulled Lucas into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Lucas," Claus whispered. Lucas hugged Claus tightly, not saying a word. Eventually, Claus let go of Lucas.

"Be safe, Claus," Lucas said softly. Claus nodded his head.

"Lucas, you can come with me to see Dad, if you want," Claus offered, but Lucas shook his head.

"I'm not sure what to do," Lucas said as a tear slid down his cheek and he started crying again. Claus stayed quiet.

"Go to Mom's funeral, Lucas," Claus said finally. He walked away from his twin, listening to Lucas, who wanted to say something, but eventually walked in the opposite direction of Claus.

Claus wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he saw an apple tree.

"Wait…" Claus muttered as he picked one and thought of his dad in jail. Claus held the apple tightly and ran back home. He searched around in his mother's dresser until he found a nail file.

"Perfect," Claus muttered as he shoved the file into the apple's core. He made sure the knife was still hidden in his shorts pocket and walked to the jail where he saw Duster.

"Claus, what are you doing?" Duster asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to check on my dad, see how he was doing," Claus lied. He could only trust Lucas for what he needed to do.

"Well, you're dad's had it pretty rough," Duster said. Claus just nodded and walked inside the jail. Flint was simply holding onto the bars, looking up when he saw Claus.

"Dad, it's me, Claus," Claus said. "I told Lucas to come, too, but he's been doing nothing but crying." Flint stayed quiet. Claus put the apple on the ledge of the bar window. "Dad, I'm gonna leave this apple here. The core might be hard, but… the core…

"The core might be too hard to eat, but be _sure_ you eat it," Claus said, cringing. "I'm gonna get stronger… I'm gonna get so strong even Dragos won't stand a chance against me… Dad… I…" Flint stared at Claus, his eyes widened. Claus winced and ran out of the prison, frustration building up inside him.

Claus ran, but stopped when he saw a graveyard and a hill. He could see Lucas' blonde hair in the distance. Claus sighed as he continued walking, starting to form a plan. First, he'd kill the Drago… then…

"Damn it," Claus muttered as he racked his brain for a solution. "For now, I'll just have to settle with that…" With that, Claus arrived at the almost burned down Sunshine Forest. He took a deep breath before walking through the charred area.

…

Duster continued to lean against the wooden wall when Claus burst out of the prison running toward the forest. Duster sighed as he wondered how frustrated the boy must've been. A girl Kumatora had told him about had been hanging around Claus a lot, but a few days ago, Fassad had the girl and her brother arrested by strange men with pig-like masks. Then, there was the attack on the village and the forest.

Only the night before, Hinawa had been killed by a Drago. The Dragos were supposed to be friendly creatures… Duster sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Well, the hair he had left. Despite his young age, his hair was thinning. Duster simply put the connection between that and his thief training his father had put him through.

Duster heard the prison door open and turned to see Flint come out.

"Flint," Duster said, getting the man's attention. "I'm not sure what to say… What happened to Hinawa was a terrible tragedy... I can't say I know how you're feeling." Duster paused before continuing.

"Hinawa's burial ended without incident. Lucas went to her grave not too long ago, but he's been crying so much. His poor little heart seems like it's about to break in two… If there's anything else I can do for you, just let me know anytime," Duster finished. Flint nodded his head to Duster and walked away.

Duster sighed as he stared at the hill where Hinawa's burial had been.

"Dust…" a voice said. Duster turned and saw a certain pink-haired young woman walking over to him.

"Kumatora…" Duster said. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard about Hinawa. Lucas and Carrot Top must be devastated," Kumatora said.

"They couldn't stop crying yesterday," Duster said solemnly.

"It makes you think what's going to happen to Tazmily…" Kumatora said. She stared at the ground. Duster, gulping nervously, grabbed Kumatora's hand, hoping she wouldn't punch him. But she held his hand back.

"Let's go to Hinawa's burial," Duster said, so the two walked over to the Sunset Cemetery.

…

Lucas stared at the grave, still wishing this was all just a horrible nightmare. Alec stood by him, silent. Flint eventually walked up to Lucas, putting his hand on his shoulder. Lucas looked up at his dad, tears streaming from the blonde's eyes.

"Dad… I thought you said anything could come true, as long as we prayed from the bottom of our hearts," Lucas sobbed. "…Mom can't even lecture me or Claus anymore... I… don't want it like this…"

Flint cringed at his sons words. He turned to Alec.

"Oh, hello," Alec said to his son-in-law. "I haven't been to the village in a while, but I rushed straight here after I heard about Hinawa." Alec stared at the grave. "Just after I had a wonderful time with my daughter and grandkids… Sorry." Alec sighed and put his head down. Flint stayed quiet.

"Come to think of it, where's Claus?" Alec asked. Flint realized he hadn't seen Claus since they were at the prisons.

"I'm not sure," Flint said, still looking as if Claus were just hiding. "Lucas, do you know where Claus is?"

"Uh…" Lucas stuttered. He looked around nervously as he tried to find a way to avoid the question. "…N-No."

"Lucas," Alec said sternly, making Lucas jump nervously. "It's not good to lie to people." Lucas whimpered nervously.

"Lucas, don't tell me Claus went after the Drago to…" Flint trailed off, fearing the worst.

"N-n-n-no, he didn't take the homemade knife dad made and go to kill the Drago," Lucas burst out. His eyes widened. "Ohh, no…"

"It's a good thing you and Hinawa raised him to be honest, Flint," Alec said harshly. "Don't tell me Claus actually thinks he can kill a Drago with a knife! Gah, Lucas, why didn't you stop him?"

"W-well, he said he needed to do it… A-and the Pigmask Army took some friends of ours and C-Claus wanted to s-save them," Lucas whimpered.

"So you just let him go? You fool!" Alec shrieked. Lucas jumped nervously. He took a few steps away before running back home, crying silently. Flint watched silently and adjusted his hat.

"That was harsh," Flint said to Alec.

"Maybe it was a little too harsh of me…" Alec said bitterly. "The Dragos live in the mountains, so Claus might have gone there. We're in a race against time, but this can't be any ordinary Drago we're dealing with. Flint, get some proper weapons to equip yourself with and meet me at my place. Mapson can mark my house on your map if you don't remember where I live. He should be in the town square."

"Got it," Flint said as he ran down the hill through the cemetery. Bronson had told him earlier that he still kept the Drago Fang, and even though Flint didn't want to, he didn't want to lose another member of his already shortened family. He found Bronson's house.

"Bronson," Flint said, but Bronson already handed him the Drago Fang.

"Flint, just take it and go. It's the Drago Fang, but I made it into a weapon. The only thing that can pierce the tough skin of a Drago is a Drago's Fang. There's no other weapon. I realize this might be tough on you, but take it," Bronson said.

Flint held the fang that killed his wife and tipped his hat to Bronson. Flint ran out of the house to the Thomas bazaar next door.

"What do you have that I can use to save my son?" Flint asked in a hurry.

"Uh, Flint, I have this Running Bomb. Do you want to take it?" Mike asked. Flint nodded and put the currently deactivated bomb in his vest pocket. "Righty-o, if anyone makes any more, I'll set them out here." Flint nodded again and left the building. He looked around frantically for Mapson.

"Mister Flint, are you ok?" Angie asked. She was one of Lucas' and Claus' friends. "Come stop by our place, we're making baked goods." Flint followed the girl into her house and saw her mother, Caroline.

"Oh, hello, Flint," Caroline said. "We're making Nut Bread. If you need some, we have some already made," Caroline motioned towards a plate of already cooked bread. Flint took a few rolls of bread.

"Thank you," Flint said quietly. Caroline just nodded.

"This is the bread Hinawa and I used to make all the time… Please cheer up, ok? I'm sure that's what Hinawa wants."

Flint nodded sadly as he left the house. Drago Fang… Running Bomb… Nut Bread… Flint figured he had enough supplies. Fuel walked over to him.

"Mister Flint," he said. "My dad's been down in the dumps ever since everything happened. DO you think you can go say hi to him?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll see him," Flint said, looking for Lighter. He was at the beach. Flint saw Nana, Lucas' girlfriend, also there, simply looking out into the ocean.

"I'd never thought I'd see you lose it like that," Lighter said before Flint could say anything. "…But if you start acting crazy, who will the two kids of yours who rely on? Ah, Flint, you know what's best, you're a man. No doubt Claus is after the Drago, trying to avenge his mother and get that girl of his back."

"…What happened to her?" Flint asked, barely realizing Chris' absence.

"Oh, Fassad told everyone in the village that she and her brother apparently murdered someone, but why would they want to hurt someone? Fuel seemed convinced they were innocent. Well, Fassad had them chased through the forest and arrested. I'm not sure where they're at, though," Lighter said.

"…What are we getting into?" Flint asked himself quietly.

"You'd better go after hm, and fast…" Lighter said. Flint nodded and ran to find Mapson. He had his map marked and made his way to Alec's house.

…

"Again, thank you," Claus said as he left the shell house.

"Why, of course, dear boy," Aeolia said, giggling.

"Anything to help a PSI user, hehe," Ionia said. There were more Magypsies in the shell house, since they seemed to be having a tea party. Kumatora had once told Claus that the Magypsies were like her guardians, and this one, Ionia, had helped Claus unlock his PSI.

In order to do it, however, Claus had to have a near-death experience, so Ionia had to strangle Claus, making sure the teenager didn't actually pass out from lack of air. Claus, ready to faint, subconsciously used a weak PK Love, so his PSI powers had finally awoken, but were still weak. He was glad, but his throat had still hurt and he needed to rest for a few minutes to regain his energy, the Magypsies insisting he had tea with them and he rested in the hot spring.

Claus continued walking through the forest to a plateau. He figured by now Lucas had told Flint what Claus was up to. He picked up his pace and thought about how brave his mother had been. She could've escaped with Claus and Lucas, if they were fast enough. Claus would make sure his mother's death was avenged, and then Claus would have to find Chris, wherever she was.

There had to be a lab or base or something where the Pigmasks were… Chris and Risk had been in the forest when they had been arrested, from what Claus had heard. Claus sighed angrily.

He encountered a few simple enemies, like a Praying Mantis, but all Claus had to do to get them out of his way was kick them against a rock or step on them. Claus also snuck behind a Greedy Mouse, so he picked it up by the tail and flicked it, playing with it until it got loose and ran. There were others like the Baked Yammonsters, Mighty Bitey Snake and Flying Mice. Claus actually got a few Baked Yams from the Yammonsters, which was very useful as his energy was being drained.

Claus eventually found a cave. It took some time, running into dead-ends and enemies, but Claus managed to get through, finally climbing up the last set of vines. Claus groaned when he saw another cave, but he went through it anyway. He climbed a ladder and saw some strange metal things with symbols of Pig snouts.

Claus didn't have time to wonder about it when he saw two Pigmasks walking through the other side of the cave, oblivious to Claus. He hid, quietly going back down the ladder after they had gone up and in the opposite direction of Claus. Claus glared at them, exiting the cave and promising to follow them later to find Chris. Now outside, Claus made his way around the plateau when he finally saw the Drago. It was lying, motionless. Claus' face tightened in anger. Now was his chance…

Claus yelled a battle cry as he charged towards the Mecha-Drago with the knife in hand. The Drago woke and roared. Claus stopped running as the Mecha-Drago stood and swung its tail towards Claus. Claus managed to get away, but barely.

"Damn it," Claus muttered under his breath as the Drago tried to grab him with its claw. Claus almost got away, but he got clawed across his chest, ripping his shirt and through his skin. Claus groaned in pain and held his chest, watching as his fingers stained red. Claus tried a new strategy. He went to the Drago's tail, making it bite towards him, but got out of the way as the Mecha-Drago hit its head against its tail. It roared in pain, and Claus swept in, taking his chance.

He put all his force in as he used the knife to stab the Drago… It broke upon contact.

"Son of a-!" Claus was knocked away by the Drago's tail, making Claus fly in the air and fall back on the hard ground. The Mecha-Drago attempted to stomp on Claus, but he was only grazed, using his arm to block his face, but still getting cut in the face and the arm. Claus suddenly fell backwards on a rock.

Claus groaned and was suddenly bit by the tip of his shoes. The Mecha-Drago swung Claus around like he was a toy. Claus yelled as he was violently swung around. His shoes came off, sending Claus flying again. He fell into a lower part of the plateau, landing very hard. Claus' entire body was in severe pain. Claus moaned in pain as he heard the Mecha-Drago walk away, Claus probably being too far down to reach. Claus slowly began to cry as he realized he should've listened to Lucas and stayed home.

Now, he was probably going to die and Lucas would be lonelier. Claus found he couldn't move his body. Claus continued to cry as his mother's death would be in vain, and Chris' actions would also have been for nothing. Claus continued to think about Chris and how she would react if she knew he died trying to do what she tried to warn him about. It actually made him smile a bit, and Claus eventually passed out, dreaming of how things would've been if Chris and Risk had saved the Drago.

Then, his mother would've been alive, and Claus wouldn't have had to worry about any of this and be with Chris…

…

Chris sat on the bed of the cell. She already hated being in the prison. Chris thought about her conversation with King P. So, the Mecha- Drago was probably complete by now, and Hinawa had probably been killed…

"Claus…" Chris muttered as she remembered his face in the vision Risk had. Chris suddenly sneezed a few times. Chris lay down in the bed and wondered what was going on with Risk and how Chris would get out of this place, but was soon interrupted.

"Hey, it's time for your medicine," the Pigmask said. There were others with him… or her. Three stood by the cell door as two went in and walked towards Chris. She backed against the wall.

"Oh, don't even try," a Pigmask taunted. Chris backed into a corner as the Pigmasks got closer to her. As Chris turned to see if there was the slightest chance of escape, both Pigmasks grabbed Chris' arms, dragging her.

"No, no," Chris cried, but the Pigmasks pinned her to the bed and stuck the needle in her arm. Chris winced. They gave the shot in the exact... same… place. The Pigmasks let go and began leaving the cell. There was still some space between the Pigmasks and the door, so Chris tried to run through it, but the Pigmasks quickly grabbed her, pushing her back in the cell and punching her in the face, knocking her down. Chris held her face and stood up, grabbing the bars. The Pigmasks had locked the door.

"Don't think no one else had tried to use that before," a Pigmask said.

"You're not the only one desperate to escape," another said, the whole group of Pigmasks leaving to give the next person their PSI Blocker. Chris breathed heavily before yelling in frustration.

"Bastard," Chris screamed, referring to Porky. Chris soon started crying. She sat in the corner and cried for a while when she heard frantic yelling coming from the end of the hall. Chris, curious, got up and went to see what was going on. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw… Claus was being dragged in, bloody and… with no shoes. Pigmasks were taking him, walking slowly.

"C-Claus?" Chris called to get the broken twin's attention. He looked up at her and gasped.

"Chris… you're here," Claus said quietly before wincing in pain.

"Hey, you have no time to be chatting with anyone," a Pigmask holding Claus said, putting more pressure on Claus' arm, making him wince in pain.

"No, please, let us talk," Chris begged. "I don't care what you do to me, just let us talk. You can put it on me, just, please." The Pigmask stared at the girl before he nodded to another Pigmask. They slowly placed Claus next to Chris' cell, standing behind him.

"Claus, what happened to you?" Chris asked, going to Claus' level and putting her hands against the bars. Claus laughed nervously.

"I got in some trouble, even though you warned me not to," Claus said, smiling sadly. He put his hands on the bars, next to Chris'. They held each others hands.

"Why didn't you just stay in Tazmily, Claus? I know you were angry about your mother, but…" Chris' voice trailed off.

"You probably think I'm an idiot, don't you?" Claus asked. Chris stared at him. "I just couldn't stay home and cry. I needed to do something. My mom was killed before my eyes, Chris. I just wouldn't let these creeps get away with it. That, and... I heard from Nana you were arrested by the fat assed banana eater."

"Fassad..? Oh, Claus, I just… I don't know what to say. What I can tell you is… Porky, he's here," Chris said quietly so the Pigmasks wouldn't hear.

"Porky's here in Tazmily?" Claus asked quietly.

"Well, yes and no. He's… older. It was an effect of the Phase Distorter. Claus… I'm not sure how much longer we can talk," Chris said, starting to cry. "I don't know if they'll ever let me see you again. They took Risk, and my parents, too. I'm not sure where, but Risk is being experimented on."

"He's being experimented on? What the hell's going on, Chris?" Claus asked. Chris continued to cry. Claus tightened his grip on her hands as he desperately waned to hold the girl in his arms.

"Hey, you need to hurry up," a Pigmask yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, just give us two minutes, fat ass," Claus yelled angrily. The Pigmask growled, but noted to make sure the girl got punishment for it.

"Claus… you'll come back to me, right?" Chris said, trying to stop her crying.

"Of course I will, Chris… because I love you," Claus said. Chris stared at him, holding Claus' hands tightly. Claus stared at the girl, wanting to use his newly acquired abilities to break the bars down, but he was in too much the pain.

"Alright, you two lovebirds have had enough time. You need to see the King now," a Pigmask barked at Claus, pulling him away from Chris.

"Claus, I… I love you, too," Chris said as the Pigmasks started taking him away. Chris continued to cry as she sat alone in the cell, listening to the sounds fade away.

…

Lucas walked around, wondering when his father would return with Claus, Chris and Risk. Nana stood by him, also anxious for Flint's return. It was starting to get late. Nana held Lucas' hand as Flint was seen in the distance.

"Dad," Lucas yelled, running up to his father, but Flint fell on his knees. He held a blue shoe… the shoe Claus had been wearing when he set off.

"I couldn't find him, son," Flint said quietly.

"Dad…" Lucas said. "Is Claus..?"

"I don't know, Lucas, but I'll find him. I'll find Claus and bring him back, Lucas. I don't care how long it takes, I'll find him," Flint said angrily, gripping the shoe.

"Mister Flint… you should get some rest, you've had a rough day," Nana said, putting her hand on Flint's shoulder.

"Yeah, Dad, _please_ get some rest," Lucas said, trying not to cry in hope he and Flint would find Claus. Flint stared at the young couple before him and stood up.

"Alright, kids…" Flint said as the three walked into Tazmily Village. The three remained unaware that this was only the beginning of the horror that was about to change their lives forever…

…

_**It is finished**_**! My God, I'm so depressed… I'm not kidding! I'm just so sad! *bawls out crying***_**They said they loved each other and now they'll never see each other again for who knows how long?**_

**(In all Honesty, I didn't like how this ended, but I was on a time limit, so it turned out like this. If you guys have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.)**

**Well, I'm working on the sequel, Come Back to Me which really should've been noticed and I'm also working with rakkicharms on a **_**possible**_** filler fanfic that explains what happens to Claus and Risk. Ah, if you didn't get the hint, Rebecca, Hoshi and Aura will be very important characters in CBtM, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to publish it, with my '****AP Homework for World History****.' Ugh… Just make sure to keep an eye out for it! I love you guys for reading this. This is my first successful story, ever. My first fully completed story… I want to thank you guys for all the support. Speaking of which, thank you to the following reviewers:**

**SPECIAL THANKS TO:**

_**GirlOfNintendo**_

_**EmTheSmasher**_

_**Aquas DragoKnight**_

_**Polar-Flare**_

_**ultimenthero**_

_**Marx Souls on facebook**_

_**Lulu D-drive**_

_**confusedbassplayer**_

_**Pk Love Omega**_

_**rakkicharms**_

_**Mr. Anonymous**_

_**nessfan**_

_**Riku's Music Lover**_

_**YaoiGirly**_

_**Miss Lol**_

_**lil' fayri grrl**_

**~Rika-chan**


	26. Update

**Hey, I just want to let everyone know (who's still checking this) that the sequel is out! It's called "Come Back to Me." Thanks, everyone! Hm, what else can I say? ...Potatoes.**


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